Bruce Springsteen went nuclear in the 1980s. All the critical acclaim and live success that he achieved in the previous decade was joined by a commercial blastoff into the stratosphere, especially when it came to his 1984 album Born in the U.S.A.
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Springsteen technically released four albums in the decade, but one of them (The River) was a double, so let’s count it as five. Let’s look at one track on each disc that doesn’t get a ton of love compared to his well-known classics, but certainly deserves it.
“The Ties That Bind” from The River (1980)
According to the original plan, “The Ties That Bind” was to be the title track to a single disc that was supposed to follow up Darkness on the Edge of Town in the Springsteen catalog. But The Boss changed plans in midstream, instead building it out to a more wide-ranging double album. “The Ties That Bind” stuck, and even kept its spot as the album-opener. It’s a tight rocker influenced by early ’60s bands like The Searchers. Springsteen also presents a sharp character sketch of a girl who’s shutting herself off to the world, while also taking on the role of the guy trying to woo her.
“The Price You Pay” from The River (1980)
Why do we consider this one underrated? Well, even Springsteen himself seemed to sleep on it, refusing to play it live for many years despite demand from fans. (He eventually relented.) In his earliest days, Springsteen was all about the details, honing in on everything from the size of a car engine to the particulars of a gang fight. But “The Price You Pay” finds him writing in somewhat opaque terms about a general malaise of humanity, how we all have to make compromises that drain us. Still, the song ends on an optimistic, defiant rallying cry for all the wild hearts listening.
“Open All Night” from Nebraska (1982)
Nebraska, Springsteen’s solo album that emanated from a series of demos, has garnered the reputation as a downer of an album, what with songs about serial killers and crime sprees. But he wisely left room for some lighthearted moments here and there to add just a little change of pace. “Open All Night” serves that purpose, and it’s a rollicking listen. Not that the prospects of the narrator are any brighter in the long run than other characters populating the album. But at least this guy is going down in a blaze of fun, eating Bob’s Big Boy chicken with his brown-eyed girl in the front seat of a souped-up car.
“Downbound Train” from Born in the U.S.A. (1984)
How do you find an underrated track from an album where more than half of the dozen songs hit the Top 10? And even some of the non-singles (especially “Bobby Jean”) are legendary? You go to one of the most overtly downcast songs on the record. “Downbound Train” likely would have broken the string of Top 10s had Springsteen chosen it as a single, as the hopeless plight of the narrator wouldn’t have done much for pop audiences. But the moody brilliance of the track becomes obvious on repeated listens—especially in the final moments—when this guy’s happy ending turns out to be nothing but a mirage.
“Walk Like a Man” by Tunnel of Love (1987)
Springsteen tackled love in all its guises and moods on Tunnel of Love, and inadvertently revealed some of the fissures in his soon-to-be-ending marriage to actress Julianne Phillips in the process. “Walk Like a Man” diverts from that storyline to take another perspective on one of his long-simmering topics: his relationship with his father. As the narrator waits at the altar on his wedding day with his emotional father beside him, he flashes back to younger days and some of their family’s struggles: Well I was young and I didn’t know what to do / When I saw your best steps stolen away from you.
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