Presenting a ranking of every original Bruce Springsteen song, including the ones on his latest album, Western Stars. carynrose writes
Bruce Springsteen. Photo-Illustration: Photos: Getty Images This article was originally published in 2016 and has been updated to reflect Springsteen’s latest work.
Since this list was originally published, in the fall of 2016, the Boss took a well-deserved break at the end of a massive, record-breaking tour, then spent 2017 and 2018 engaged with Springsteen On Broadway. And 2019 has greeted us with the release of Western Stars, Springsteen’s first new music in five years, which has occasioned the addition of new songs to the list, worked into the existing hierarchy.
325. “The Angel,” Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. How are “The Angel” and “Mary Queen of Arkansas” on the same record? This song’s only saving grace is the introduction of the phrase “hubcap heaven” into the vernacular. If you wipe the dust off that inscription over there, you’ll see that “the interstate’s choked with nomadic hordes” was the first public outing of a line Springsteen would put to much better use in “Born to Run.
321. “Red Headed Woman,” MTV Plugged. This number was introduced on the Joad tour as, and I quote, “A great song about a great subject: cunnilingus.” Although I absolutely applaud the sentiment from a feminist standpoint, I can’t applaud the actual song because it’s cheap, cloying, and simply not good. Springsteen has several jokey songs that get played live for a brief period of time, but never get recorded because sanity prevails.
317. “Queen of the Supermarket,” Working on a Dream. Bruce Springsteen wrote a song about the Whole Foods in Middletown, New Jersey. It’s an unnecessarily ornate rewrite of “Customer” by the Replacements, but I could have gotten behind it if he had gone somewhere assured or interesting. Saying “fucking” in the last verse does not accomplish that. Like much of Working on a Dream, there are too many Brian Wilson fantasies pursued here.
313. “Sad Eyes,” Tracks. This is not the ‘78 “Sad Eyes,” but rather the polar opposite, an uncharacteristically mean account of a man deliberately toying with the affections of a vulnerable woman. Springsteen has said that he was thinking of Dionne Warwick when he wrote the melody in the ‘90s. Let’s hope it stays there.
309. “Let’s Be Friends ,” The Rising. It seems like this one was supposed to capture a modern R&B feeling in a song about adult romance and second marriages. The harmonies are great, but the rest of it is cringeworthy. 305. “This Life,” Working on a Dream. Springsteen attempts to fulfill his Wall of Sound and Brian Wilson fantasies, which would be great if it were behind material that actually could stand up to the challenge.
301. “What Love Can Do,” Working on a Dream. “It was sort of a ‘love in the time of Bush’ meditation,” wrote Springsteen on his website about this one. That concept definitely has potential, but the final result feels too vague. 297. “Living on the Edge of the World,” Tracks. A great idea trapped an annoying, cloying, unnecessarily busy musical landscape. Recorded in ‘79, Springsteen would thankfully steal the verses for “Open All Night,” and later cannibalize the rest for other superior numbers.
293. “Breakaway,” The Promise. As an early Darkness demo, it’s easy to understand why “Breakaway” never went any further than the studio. Springsteen would borrow bits and bobs — cars, characters, choices — and employ them in better fashion elsewhere. 289. “Swallowed Up ,” Wrecking Ball. The whale is used as a metaphor for big banks, the economy, and the decay of the social safety net. That’s all well and good, but these subjects were more than adequately addressed on the rest of the record.
283. “Cross My Heart,” Human Touch. A low-key, down-tempo, country-flavored track about commitment and betrayal. Again, these themes are dealt with far better on the rest of the album. 279. “Cynthia,” Tracks. If the Sir Douglas Quintet overdosed on saccharine, “Cynthia” would be the result. 275. “The Little Things ,” The Promise. According to the studio logs, “Little Things” was put down in one take, which is easily the most interesting thing about it. Sure, I could listen to the E Street Band fake their way through any number of faux Brill Building–type songs, but this doesn’t go anywhere.
271. “Silver Palomino,” Devils & Dust. A heartbreaking acoustic dreamscape, dedicated to a family friend and the sons she left behind. 267. “Somewhere North of Nashville,” Western Stars. One of the more conventional numbers on an album that prides itself on its adornments. It’s just acoustic guitar, E Street’s Charlie Giordano on piano, and Marty Rifkin on pedal steel. It’s a sad little ballad about a Faustian bargain that backfires, as they all do eventually.
261. “American Beauty,” American Beauty EP. The title track of the 2014 Record Store Day exclusive, one of four outtakes left over from High Hopes. Springsteen himself called this one “Exile on E Street” with regard to his vocals, but it’s more like something left over from a Keith Richards solo album, which is not a terrible thing.
257. “Stray Bullet,” The Ties That Bind. The title is evocative, but the vocals feel unnecessarily overwrought. Melodically, Bittan and Clarence Clemons bring their A game. Absolutely majestic performances from both of them. 253. “All I’m Thinkin’ About,” Devils & Dust. Ever wonder what it would sound like if Bruce Springsteen decided to imitate Bob “The Bear” Hite from Canned Heat? Well, this one’s for you.
249. “The Honeymooners,” Tracks. Another acoustic number, delivered in a matter-of-fact recitation of events with a delicate, country-ish melody. The fact that this emotionally truthful account of a wedding day didn’t make it onto Tunnel of Love says a whole lot, but it should have. 245. “The Long Goodbye,” Human Touch. It’s unfortunate that the music is so standard because this is a remarkably revealing song about leaving New Jersey for California. “Well I went to leave 20 years ago/Since then I guess I been packin’ kinda slow/Sure did like that admirin’ touch/Guess I liked it a little too much.”
241. “Drive Fast ,” Western Stars. Many familiar themes are introduced here against sparse instrumentation: a man’s faded glory, fast cars, broken hearts, second chances. There’s no happy ending, though; the song ends with the same line that opens it. Former E Streeter David Sancious gently graces the track with B3 organ.
237. “Life Itself,” Working on a Dream. One of the more genuinely interesting numbers on the record. It’s another reflection on mortality, arranged over pleasingly textured guitar layers. 233. “Chasin’ Wild Horses,” Western Stars. This is the second song on the album in which the main character seeks refuge from a broken heart by throwing himself into his work, as the title conveys. It’s a quiet, gently heartbreaking little number.
227. “Rockaway the Days,” Tracks. The cheerful music doesn’t fit the grim story of an ex-con letting his temper getting the best of him. Everyone turns his back on him, and the outcome is sadly predictable. 223. “Worlds Apart,” The Rising. A song about love between two worlds — between a Western soldier and a local woman — during wartime. Tape loops, Qawwali singing, and Arabic rhythms open the track, which then expands to layer a rock melody on top. By the end, it’s got a guitar solo, harmonica, and a haunting organ melody line.
219. “Gotta Get That Feeling,” The Promise. The E Street Band meets the Wrecking Crew, in the most glorious fashion. 215. “Brothers Under the Bridges ,” Tracks. Not to be confused with “Brothers Under the Bridge,” which is an underrated song about homeless veterans, “Brothers Under the Bridges ” is a country-ish song that draws its themes from “No Surrender” and “Bobby Jean.”
211. “The Big Payback,” The Essential Bruce Springsteen. More rockabilly fun, recorded at home post-Nebraska. It would be a great Nick Lowe song. 207. “Meet Me in the City,” The Ties That Bind. A great little ‘80s rave-up, with some strong lyrics and crowd-participation moments, but I’m still trying to figure out how how he went from the subway station to the killing floor. Seems a bit extreme for just parole violation, if you ask me.
203. “Terry’s Song,” Magic. A heartbreaking and very personal tribute to Terry Magovern, Springsteen’s longtime assistant and right-hand man, who died shortly before Magic was released. 199. “Devil’s Arcade,” Magic. Despondent and forlorn, but still very rock and roll, “Devil’s Arcade” is part of a trio of songs Springsteen wrote about soldiers killed in Iraq. The intensity of the rhythm section as he repeats “the beat of your heart” is both stirring and deliberately uncomfortable.
195. “Iceman,” Tracks. This mournful and dramatic outtake has the dubious distinction of being a song that Springsteen completely forgot. When he was putting the box set together, he asked around for some suggestions, and a friend gave him a tape with the song on it. As he told MOJO in 1998, “[It] was just something that I didn’t get at the time I did it.
191. “Dead Man Walkin’”, The Essential Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen’s dark and beautifully concise contribution to the soundtrack of the 1995 movie of the same name, which earned him an Oscar nod. 187. “Straight Time,” The Ghost of Tom Joad. It’s not just the specificity of the details that makes this one so painful, but the details Springsteen chooses to focus on. It’s not a linear story: He’s showing vignettes, faded Kodachrome images flashing one by one. The last verse is deliberately left open to interpretation, which amplifies the impact of the rest of the song.
183. “The Last Carnival,” Working on a Dream. “The Last Carnival” was written for Federici, who died in 2008. Springsteen invokes Wild Billy and two kids running away to join the circus, over a quiet acoustic background, with an ethereal chorus against a fairground calliope until fadeout. Danny was the longest tenured member of the E Street Band — he stuck with Bruce through the thin times, the bad times, and the good times — so the analogy could not be more heartbreakingly apt.
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