3 of Bruce Springsteen’s Greatest Lyrics

It’s not hard work locating great Bruce Springsteen lyrics. In the early years, he was often seen as the New Dylan. The next person up to speak for their generation. No pressure. But Springsteen didn’t just speak for his generation. His songs reflected the timeless struggle of working-class people. And it didn’t matter that he never worked a blue-collar job. The stories endure as vivid portraits of American life, often through the lens of hardship. Not every war correspondent needs to be a soldier. You still need someone to tell the stories. And few songwriters have done it better.

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I wanted to highlight three lyrics for different reasons. The first shows Springsteen, the hopeful poet. Next, a lyric about dismal prospects. When there’s darkness not only on the edge of town, but suffocating the whole place. And finally, a tune about friendship, community, and the joy of playing in a rock and roll band.

“The Rising”

Bruce Springsteen wrote “The Rising” as a bookend to “Into The Fire”. He explained how a few lines will begin “speaking to you.” How a few songs on an album also begin “speaking to you.” Giving the writer a path forward, revealing itself like a scientist digging up ancient clues to solve the riddle of human history. It begins with a world transformed, how your life changes and becomes something you don’t recognize and cannot know. This is Springsteen at his best. A folk song and a prayer. When you’ve exhausted all poetry, you find community and hope in the sound of joined voices, singing: “Li, li, li, li ...”

I see you, Mary, in the garden,
In the garden of a thousand sighs.
There’s holy pictures of our children,
Dancin’ in a sky filled with light.
May I feel your arms around me,
May I feel your blood mix with mine.
A dream of life comes to me,
Like a catfish dancin’ on the end of the line.

“Atlantic City”

The couple in “Atlantic City” exists in a hopeless situation. With mounting debts, they escape to the Jersey Shore for a change of scenery, to get married, and buy time until the mob catches up to them. Bruce Springsteen’s narrator knows he’s going to die. Everything does, he says. But the song hints at a rebirth. A second chance, and maybe that’s what the seaside resort offers. He tells his partner to “Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty.” Perhaps for a shotgun wedding or funeral. The walls are closing in on this guy. He’s on Desolation Row and he knows it.

Well, I got a job and tried to put my money away,
But I got debts that no honest man can pay.
So I drew what I had from the Central Trust,
And I bought us two tickets on that Coast City bus.

“Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out”

This track is something like the E Street Band’s origin story, but Bruce Springsteen admitted he had no idea what the title meant. Then-keyboardist David Sancious lived on E Street, where the group occasionally rehearsed. The new band needed a name, and Springsteen said, “It seemed pretty easy—it just had a nice ring to it … E Street.” In the song, Springsteen is Bad Scooter, and saxophonist Clarence Clemons is the Big Man. Here, Springsteen’s lyrics describe the soulful racket the band made, with an us-against-the-world spirit.

I’m stranded in the jungle,
Taking all the heat they was giving.
The night is dark, but the sidewalk’s bright,
And lined with the light of the living.
From a tenement window, a transistor blasts,
Turn around the corner, things got real quiet real fast.

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