COUNTDOWN: Top 50 Bruce Springsteen Songs

[zombie]

the first minute or two of jungleland gave me a who vibe, like baba o'riley mostly, for some reason. really good song.

[Jason]

Streets of Philadelphia is top 5 for me. Really beautiful song

Yeah. It's amazing how he just went home, wrote it, recorded it, all by himself. It was a huge song in 1993/1994.

[Jason]

the first minute or two of jungleland gave me a who vibe, like baba o'riley mostly, for some reason. really good song.

Yeah. I mentioned Stairway and Rhapsody, but it does feel closer to Baba O'Riley.

[Tiggnutz]

Streets of Philadelphia is top 5 for me. Really beautiful song

Yeah. It's amazing how he just went home, wrote it, recorded it, all by himself. It was a huge song in 1993/1994.

I bought the Philadelphia album soon as I left the theater so did my boy. Neil Young had a beautiful song on there too

[Jason]

Streets of Philadelphia is top 5 for me. Really beautiful song

Yeah. It's amazing how he just went home, wrote it, recorded it, all by himself. It was a huge song in 1993/1994.

I bought the Philadelphia album soon as I left the theater so did my boy. Neil Young had a beautiful song on there too

I was a huge fan of that movie when I was in my late teens. Great flick, great music.

[Tiggnutz]

Streets of Philadelphia is top 5 for me. Really beautiful song

Yeah. It's amazing how he just went home, wrote it, recorded it, all by himself. It was a huge song in 1993/1994.

I bought the Philadelphia album soon as I left the theater so did my boy. Neil Young had a beautiful song on there too

I was a huge fan of that movie when I was in my late teens. Great flick, great music.

That whole movie everyone around me was sobbing uncontrollably I was fighting it off the whole time than the ending was the Neil song with the photo montage and that's what got me.

[Jason]

Streets of Philadelphia is top 5 for me. Really beautiful song

Yeah. It's amazing how he just went home, wrote it, recorded it, all by himself. It was a huge song in 1993/1994.

I bought the Philadelphia album soon as I left the theater so did my boy. Neil Young had a beautiful song on there too

I was a huge fan of that movie when I was in my late teens. Great flick, great music.

That whole movie everyone around me was sobbing uncontrollably I was fighting it off the whole time than the ending was the Neil song with the photo montage and that's what got me.

I wasn't lucky enough to see it in theaters. I would've been too young to process it anyway, but for a brief while, it was my 2nd favorite movie.

[Jason]

#29






Janey, Don't You Lose Heart


Janey, Don't You Lose Heart - Single (1985)











The third single out of four that made the list. The song was originally intended for the Born In The U.S.A.
Album and had it not been released as a single, I wouldn't have qualified it for the list. It's another overlooked
Springsteen tune but the meaning is quite clear when you listen to the lyrics. The sound it produces is really
What helped notch it into my top 30.




Till every river it runs dry, until the sun's torn from the sky
Till every feel you've felt burst free, gone tumblin' down into the sea
Janey, don't you lose heart

Janey Dont You Lose Heart lyrics

---

You got your book baby with all your fears
Let me honey and I'll catch your tears
I'll take your sorrow if you want me to
Come tomorrow
That's what I'll do
Listen to me

Janey don't you lose heart
Janey don't you lose heart
Janey don't you lose heart
Janey don't you lose heart

Well you say you got no new dreams to touch
You feel like a stranger babe who knows too much
You come home late and get undressed
You lie in bed and feel this emptiness
Well listen to me

Janey don't you lose heart
Janey don't you lose heart
Janey don't you lose heart
Janey don't you lose heart

Till every river it runs dry
Until the sun's torn from the sky
Till every feel you've felt burst free
Gone tumblin' down into the sea

Listen to me
Janey don't you lose heart
Janey don't you lose heart
Janey don't you lose heart
Janey don't you lose heart

[Jason]

#28






Spare Parts


album: Tunnel Of Love (1987)











Another easy song to understand, Spare Parts is about a woman left at the alter and forced to
Care for unborn baby alone. It follows the story of the struggle of caring for a child without a
Father around. Youthful ignorance caused her to briefly consider abandonment, but in the end
She takes her old wedding ring to the Pawn Shop for some cash to presumably raise the child on
Her own. It's a really heavy rocker and another one from The Boss that I really like to crank up loud.




Bobby said he'd pull out Bobby stayed in
Janey had a baby it wasn't any sin
They were set to marry on a summer day
Bobby got scared and he ran away

Spare Parts lyrics

---

Bobby said he'd pull out Bobby stayed in
Janey had a baby it wasn't any sin
They were set to marry on a summer day
Bobby got scared and he ran away
Jane moved in with her ma out on Shawnee Lake
She sighed Ma sometimes my whole life feels like one big mistake
She settled in in a back room time passed on
Later that winter a son came along

Spare parts
And broken hearts
Keep the world turnin' around

Now Janey walked that baby across the floor night after night
But she was a young girl and she missed the party lights
Meanwhile in South Texas in a dirty oil patch
Bobby heard 'bout his son bein' born and swore he wasn't ever goin' back

Spare parts
And broken hearts
Keep the world turnin' around

Janey heard about a woman over in Calverton
Put her baby in the river let the river roll on
She looked at her boy in the crib where he lay
Got down on her knees cried till she prayed
Mist was on the water low run the tide
Janey held her son down at the riverside
Waist deep in water how bright the sun shone
She lifted him in her arms and carried him home
As he lay sleeping in her bed Janey took a look around at everything
Went to a drawer in her bureau and got out her old engagement ring
Took out her wedding dress tied that ring up in its sash
Went straight down to the pawn shop man and walked out with some good cold cash

Spare parts
And broken hearts
Keep the world turnin' around

[Jason]

Will get a few more done later tonight.

[Jason]

Bonus Track

Live version of Spare Parts that is sure to rock your socks off...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKH3C3b2HzU

[Jason]

#27






Tougher Than The Rest


album: Tunnel Of Love (1987)











Springsteen gets really romantically poetic here, and in a very realistic way of telling the story.
Varying sources suggest two ways to interpret this song. One way is that it's about an emotionally
Bruised couple who meet at a bar, each hoping this time will be different. The other way is that
It's about a chance encounter and the two have never met. I've kind of interpreted it in the second
Way, but Rolling Stone magazine, among other sources, suggest the former, and I believe the former to
Be accurate. Especially considering this album was written about his then-wife and their struggles together.
What we do know is the song is about two people who have experienced the hurt of relationships/marriages
And the narrator's desire to be with the woman in the story. The main pitch the narrator gives
Is that the "Handsome Dan", the "Good-Lookin' Joe", and the "Sweet-Talkin' Romeo" often aren't the
Fairytale relationships you expect them to be. The narrator professes he's not gonna be the fairytale
Ending she might be hoping for, but after all the hurt and emotion he's suffered through, he knows he's
"Tougher Than The Rest".




Maybe your other boyfriends
Couldn't pass the test
Well, if you're rough and ready for love
Honey, I'm tougher than the rest

Tougher Than The Rest lyrics

---

Well, it's Saturday night
You're all dressed up in blue
I been watching you a while
Maybe you been watching me too

So somebody ran out
Left somebody's heart in a mess
Well, if you're looking for love
Honey, I'm tougher than the rest

Some girls they want a handsome Dan
Or some good-lookin' Joe
On their arms some girls
Like a sweet-talkin' Romeo

Well, 'round here, baby
I learned you get what you can get
So if you're rough enough for love
Honey, I'm tougher than the rest

Yeah, the road is dark
And it's a thin, thin line
But I want you to know
I'll walk it for you any time

Maybe your other boyfriends
Couldn't pass the test
Well, if you're rough and ready for love
Honey, I'm tougher than the rest

Well, it ain't no secret
I've been around a time or two
Well, I don't know, baby
Maybe you've been around too

Well, there's another dance, honey
All you gotta do is say yes
And if you're rough and ready for love
Honey, I'm tougher than the rest

If you're rough enough for love
Baby, I'm tougher than the rest

[Jason]

#26






Darlington County


album: Born In The U.S.A. (1984)











This is another really catchy and fun track from Springsteen that tells the story of two
Guys on a road trip from New York to South Carolina in search for work. What emerges
Is the search for work is put to a halt when the narrator meets a pretty girl. Flash forward
And all of a sudden the narrator's friend has been missing for a week, not showing up for
Work and as the narrator heads back home to New York with his new girlfriend, he spots
His friend being arrested by a state trooper.




Our pa's each own one of the World Trade Centers
For a kiss and a smile, I'll give mine all to you

Darlington County lyrics

---

Driving in to Darlington County
Me and Wayne on the Fourth of July
Driving in to Darlington County
Looking for some work on the county line

We drove down from New York City
Where the girls are pretty but they just want to know your name
Driving in to Darlington City
Got a union connection with an uncle of Wayne's

We drove eight hundred miles without seeing a cop
We got rock and roll music blasting off the T-top

Singing sha la la la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la

Hey little girl, standing on the corner
Today's your lucky day for sure, all right
Me and my buddy, we're from New York City
We got two hundred dollars, we want to rock all night

Girl, you're looking at two big spenders
The world don't know what me and Wayne might do
Our pa's each own one of the World Trade Centers
For a kiss and a smile, I'll give mine all to you

Come on baby, take a seat on my fender
It's a long night, tell me what else were you gonna do?
Just me and you

We could sha la la la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la

Little girl, sitting in the window
Ain't seen my buddy in seven days
County man tells me the same thing
He don't work and he don't get paid

Little girl, you're so young and pretty
Walk with me and you can have your way
And we'll leave this Darlington City
For a ride down that Dixie Highway

Driving out of Darlington County
My eyes seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
Driving out of Darlington County
Seen Wayne handcuffed to the bumper of a state trooper's Ford

Sha la la la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la la la
Sha la la la la la la

[Jason]

Top 25 coming up.

[Jason]

#25






The Ghost Of Tom Joad


album: The Ghost Of Tom Joad (1995)











The Ghost Of Tom Joad is the first of two songs from the album of the same name.
For Jiggy and J-Mac, this is the album I alluded to when talking of the album that was
So similar to the Nebraska album that fans dubbed it "Nebraska 2". If any of you have
Read The Grapes of Wrath, you might remember Tom Joad being the main character of
The book. Springsteen's ideal form of social activism was what took place in the 1930s,
Particularly the economic corruption going on under FDR during The Great Depression.
Even by today's standards, I think it can be applied in various ways as we see fit.The idea
Is that the ghost of Tom Joad, the spirit of working together as a community, will prevail
In times of great injustice.
Bonus: Springsteen originally wrote this as a new track for his Greatest Hits that came out
Earlier in the same year. It was a more rocking version, and he decided at the last minute to
Take it out and put it on his acoustic album months later, and named the album after the song.
In 2014, Springsteen recorded a version with Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine for
Tom's solo album. It is a more rocking version, but I definitely much prefer the original version.
Here is the other version of the song that Springsteen made for Tom Morello's album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUhtdAOn4k0




Wherever somebody's struggling to be free
Look in their eyes, Mom, you'll see me

The Ghost Of Tom Joad lyrics

---

Men walking along the railroad track
Going someplace and there's no going back
Highway patrol choppers coming up over the ridge
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge

Shelter line stretching 'round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleeping in their cars in the Southwest
No home, no job, no peace, no rest

Well, the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Searching for the ghost of Tom Joad

He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag
Preacher lights up a butt and he takes a drag
Waiting for when the last shall be first, and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box neath the underpass

Got a one-way ticket to the promised land
You got a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand
Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock
Bathing in the city aqueduct

Well, the highway is alive tonight
Where it's headed everybody knows
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Waiting on the ghost of Tom Joad

Now Tom said, "Mom, wherever there's a cop beating a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me, Mom, I'll be there

"Wherever there's somebody fighting for a place to stand
Or a decent job or a helping hand
Wherever somebody's struggling to be free
Look in their eyes, Mom, you'll see me"

The highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad
With the ghost of old Tom Joad

[Jason]

#24






Better Days


album: Lucky Town (1992)











In 1992, Springsteen quietly released two albums that he'd been slowly working
On over the years. One album was "Human Touch", the other was "Lucky Town" and
Better Days is the first track on this album. Springsteen at the time had a young son
And was finally feeling like the worst was behind him. He'd been suffering from depression
For years before he and Patti Scialfa came together and this song is about his escape
From constant sadness. "With a young son and about to get married, I was feelin' like a
Happy guy who has his rough days rather than vice versa." This was a frequent
Play from me when it looked like my health issues weren't going to doom me for a soon
Death or longterm agony.




It's a sad man, my friend, who's living in his own skin
And can't stand the company

Better Days lyrics

---

Well my soul checked out missing as I sat listening
To the hours and minutes tickin' away
Yeah, just sittin' around, waitin' for my life to begin
While it was all just slippin' away
And I'm tired of waitin' for tomorrow to come
For that train to come roarin' 'round the bend
I got a new suit of clothes and a pretty red rose
And a woman I can call my friend

These are better days, baby
There's better days shining through
These are better days, baby
Better days with a girl like you

Well, I took a piss at fortune's sweet kiss
It's like eatin' caviar and dirt
It's a sad, funny ending to find yourself pretending
You're a rich man in a poor man's shirt
Now my ass was draggin' when from a passin' gypsy wagon
Your heart like a diamond shone
Tonight, I'm layin' in your arms, carvin' lucky charms
Out of these hard luck bones

These are better days, baby
These are better days, it's true
These are better days, baby
There's better days shining through

Now, a life of leisure and a pirate's treasure
Don't make much for tragedy
But it's a sad man, my friend, who's livin' in his own skin
And can't stand the company
Every fool's got a reason to feelin' sorry for himself
And turnin' his heart to stone
Tonight this fool's halfway to heaven and just a mile outta hell
And I feel like I'm comin' home

These are better days, baby
There's better days shining through
These are better days, baby
Better days with a girl like you

These are better days, baby
These are better days, it's true
These are better days, baby
Better days are shining through

These are better days, baby
Better days, it's true
These are better days, baby
Better days are shining through

These are better days, baby
???
These are better days, baby
Better days are shining through

[Jason]

#23






Johnny 99


album: Nebraska (1982)











Johnny 99 is really a pretty ballsy tune from Bruce Springsteen. The story tells of a struggling auto-worker
Who was laid off, kills a man in a moment of drunken despair and then begs the judge for understanding.
What really took guts was the story is told to inspire empathy, and not horror. And I do often find myself
Empathizing with criminals who have done terrible things. We have our own moments of rage, and sometimes
They get the better of us, and for few of us, it really gets the better of us. I understand the interpretation
Bruce was going for and I thought it was fantastic. Bruce said, "You kinda just gotta know what that feels like, somewhere."




Now judge, judge, I got debts no honest man could pay
The bank was holdin' my mortgage and takin' my house away
Now I ain't sayin' that make me an innocent man
But it was more'n all this that put that gun in my hand

Johnny 99 lyrics

---

Well, they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late that month
Ralph went out lookin' for a job but he couldn't find none
He came home too drunk from mixin' Tanqueray and wine
He got a gun, shot a night clerk, now they call him Johnny 99

Down in the part of town where when you hit a red light you don't stop
Johnny's wavin' his gun around and threatenin' to blow his top
When an off-duty cop snuck up on him from behind
Out in front of the club Tip Top, they slapped the cuffs on Johnny 99

Well the city supplied a public defender but the judge was mean John Brown
He came into the courtroom and stared poor Johnny down
Well the evidence is clear gonna let the sentence, son, fit the crime
Prison for 98 and a year and we'll call it even, Johnny 99

A fist fight broke out in the courtroom, they had to drag Johnny's girl away
His mama stood up and shouted "Judge, don't take my boy this way"
Well, son, you got any statement you'd like to make
Before the bailiff comes and forever take you away

Now judge, judge, I got debts no honest man could pay
The bank was holdin' my mortgage and takin' my house away
Now I ain't sayin' that make me an innocent man
But it was more'n all this that put that gun in my hand

Well, Your Honor, I do believe I'd be better off dead
And if you can take a man's life for the thoughts that's in his head
Then won't you sit back in that chair and think it over, judge, one more time
And let 'em shave off my hair and put me on that excecution line

[Jason]

#22






Highway Patrolman


album: Nebraska (1982)











Originally, I had Johnny 99 at #22, just above Highway Patrolman. But upon listening to both songs
Back-to-back, I had to give the slight edge to Highway Patrolman for my #1 song off the Nebraska album.
A dramatic tale of the different paths of two siblings, compressed into a few gentle acoustic verses
With allusions to Vietnam and rural hardships, intertwined with the loyalty of sibling brotherhood
As their opposing paths, doomed to collide, come together in a heart-wrenching conclusion.
This song is an absolute, undeniable masterpiece that nobody ever talks about (except J-Mac and Jiggy!).
In some ways, this song mirrors me and my brother. I'm on the straight and narrow, and while he's certainly
Not in the same kind of trouble that Franky gets into at the end of the story, he still gets into trouble.
Nothing unforgivable, but when a "man turns his back on his family, well, he just ain't no good."
It really does hit home a bit for me, and even if it didn't, the song wouldn't be any lower on my list.




Well, if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away
But when it's your brother, sometimes you look the other way

Highway Patrolman lyrics

---

My name is Joe Roberts, I work for the state
I'm a sergeant out of Perrineville barracks number 8
I always done an honest job as honest as I could
I got a brother named Franky and Franky ain't no good

Now ever since we was young kids, it's been the same come down
I get a call on the short-wave, Franky's in trouble downtown
Well, if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away
But when it's your brother, sometimes you look the other way

Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family, well, he just ain't no good

Well, Franky went in the army back in 1965
I got a farm deferment, settled down, took Maria for my wife
But them wheat prices kept on droppin' 'til it was like we were gettin' robbed
Franky came home in '68, and me, I took this job

Yeah, we're laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', teach him how to walk that line
Man turns his back on his family, he ain't no friend of mine

Well, the night was like any other, I got a call 'bout quarter to nine
There was trouble in a roadhouse out on the Michigan line
There was a kid lyin' on the floor, lookin' bad, bleedin' hard from his head
There was a girl cryin' at a table and it was Frank, they said

Well, I went out and I jumped in my car and I hit the lights
Well, I must've done a hundred and ten through Michigan county that night
It was out at the crossroads, down round Willow bank
Seen a Buick with Ohio plates, behind the wheel was Frank
Well, I chased him through them county roads 'til a sign said Canadian border five miles from here
Pulled over the side of the highway and watched his taillights disappear

Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood
Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood"
I catch him when he's strayin', like any brother would
Man turns his back on his family, he just ain't no good

[Jason]

Gonna continue to blow through this. Someone get Jiggy and J-Mac in here so they can revel in my placement for Highway Patrolman.

[Jason]

Some more on the way tonight.