Features

Tramps Like Us: A Bruce Springsteen Song Countdown

by Jason Warburg

Bruce Springsteen might be the most famous neurotic never to star in his own sitcom.

For years he wore the reputation of an obsessive control freak when it came to his recorded output. Over the course of three long lawsuit-marred years between 1975’s Born To Run and its 1978 successor Darkness On The Edge Of Town, the man wrote and recorded enough music to fill at least four complete albums. Darkness is widely considered a masterpiece, which speaks to the value of Springsteen’s painstaking editing of his own work. A similarly prolific run of songwriting preceded 1980’s double album The River.

When the doors to Springsteen’s vault of unreleased material were finally thrown open twenty years later for 1998’s four-disc, 66-song box set Tracks, the results were illuminating. The best songs it contained were clearly outliers in terms of the tone, style and/or thematic focus of the albums he released during the corresponding time periods. And much of the remainder could fairly be described as uneven: stylistically diverse and containing many first or second attempts at ideas whose final released iterations were superior. While a handful of unreleased gems turned up, for the most part it felt like quality control manager Springsteen had done a very good job.

The benefits of Springsteen’s meticulous approach to self-editing across the first 20 years of his career has been further underscored by the looser approach he’s taken since 1987’s still-underrated Tunnel Of Love. His post-1990 albums contain quite a few very strong individual songs (“Living Proof,” “The Rising,” and “Ghosts,” to name three), but their top-to-bottom impact can’t measure up to a track list like Born To Run or Darkness.

All of which also speaks to one of the challenges of attempting to rank the songs of an artist like Springsteen—there’s a bunch of great stuff, even more very good stuff, and a glut of not-as-memorable latter-day material that probably wouldn’t have made it past the man’s own gate-keeping back in the early years.

Chances are you wouldn’t enjoy reading about all those “not-as-memorable” songs any more than I would writing about them. So what follows is a strategically abridged countdown of, in this writer’s mostly humble opinion, the 100 best Bruce Springsteen songs. Two notes: (1) covers are excluded, as my focus here is on songwriting as much as performance, and (2) your mileage will almost certainly vary.

Finally, because over the years even a world-class songwriter like Springsteen has written his fair share of clunkers, we’ll kick off with a much shorter countdown of Bruce Springsteen songs that probably never should have seen the (heh) light of day.

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Eight Songs That Won’t Help Your Argument for Bruce Springsteen as a Great Songwriter

8. “Red-Headed Woman” (MTV Plugged, 1992) – I laughed out loud the first time I heard this—a lusty celebration of sex with his wife—but like many jokes, it turns out hearing it once is probably enough.

7. “This Is Your Sword” (High Hopes, 2014) – “Stay righteous” indeed; this is Springsteen at his preachiest, singing with the exaggerated drawl he sometimes slipped into during this period.

6. “Hunter Of Invisible Game” (High Hopes, 2014) – Springsteen started out being promoted as “the new Dylan”; this dull homage reminds you to be grateful that he found another path.

5. “Real Man” (Human Touch, 1992) – It’s fine if your song lyric was inspired by an entry in your therapy journal… but it shouldn’t sound like one.

4. “Queen Of The Supermarket” (Working On A Dream, 2009) – We get it: the cute clerk who rang you up at the grocery store smiled at you. That’s worth a chuckle to yourself as you walk out to the car… not an entire song.

3. “57 Channels (And Nothin’ On)” (Human Touch, 1992) – It was probably inevitable that a guy who worshipped that infamous TV-shooter Elvis would write a song like this, but actually putting it on an album? Dude.

2. “Outlaw Pete” (Working On A Dream, 2009) – In which Bruce takes the Old West concept for a children’s book and turns it into a cringey, why-didn’t-someone-say-something eight-minute slog.

1. “Part Man, Part Monkey” (Tracks, 1998) – The one cut on Springsteen’s entire four-disc empty-the-vaults collection that’s just plain embarrassing. The Scopes trial might offer enough material for a decent song, but this faux-reggae number punctuated with weird yelps is not it.

Honorable Mention

These seven didn’t quite make the Top 100, but I like ’em anyway, so there. In alpha order:

• “American Skin (41 Shots)” (Live In New York City, 2001 / High Hopes, 2014) – Seems like political songs often work best when their focus narrows down to small, personal details.
• “Frankie Fell In Love” (High Hopes, 2014) – It’s hard not to like a song where Bruce is having this much fun.
• “Last Man Standing” (Letter To You, 2020) – Bruce sounds as vulnerable as late-era Johnny Cash as he looks back on a lifetime of brotherhood and loss.
• “Livin’ In The Future” (Magic, 2007) – A finger-snapping r&b groove paired with a bitter lyric about disillusionment may seem less than obvious, but that’s what makes this one stand out.
• “None But The Brave” (The Essential Bruce Springsteen, 2003) – This Born In The USA outtake feels like a throwback to Born To Run days: searching, melancholy, expansive.
• “Sinaloa Cowboys” (Ghost Of Tom Joad, 1995) – A shimmering story-song whose novelistic details pull you in.
• “Stand On It” (B-side to “Glory Days,” 1984) – This old-school, roadhouse-rocking Born In The USA outtake features Roy Bittan’s piano and a stinging guitar solo.

The Top 100

100. “From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)” (The Essential Bruce Springsteen, 2003) – It’s baffling that this old-school rocker—which Bruce gave to Dave Edmunds—didn’t make it onto Tracks; in any case, it’s rollicking good fun.

99. “Two Faces” (Tunnel Of Love, 1987) – A stark self-interrogation rife with loathing and regret.

98. “My Lucky Day” (Working On A Dream, 2009) – A driving old-school rocker that’s head and shoulders above the rest of the album it landed on, even if there isn’t a whole lot to it.

97. “We Take Care of Our Own” (Wrecking Ball, 2012) – A less engaging rewrite of “My Love Will Not Let You Down” whose source material was good enough that it still works.

96. “Wrecking Ball” (Wrecking Ball, 2012) – An anthem celebrating two of Bruce’s favorite things: resilience and New Jersey.

95. “Youngstown” (Ghost Of Tom Joad, 1995) – This flinty acoustic tale evolved into a roaring electric nightmare in subsequent E Street Band shows.

94. “Light of Day” (MTV Plugged, 1992) – A fun rocker Bruce wrote for the same-named movie starring Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett; it made it onto a lot of setlists in the ’90s and 2000s.

93. “My City Of Ruins” (The Rising, 2002) – A somber yet uplifting gospel tribute to NYC post 9/11.

92. “Human Touch” (Human Touch, 1992) – Far and away the most memorable song on a frequently forgettable album.

91. “Roll Of The Dice” (Human Touch, 1992) – Far and away the most joyous song on a frequently joyless album.

90. “Lonesome Day” (The Rising, 2002) – The keening, surging, tone-setting opener to The Rising, this also made many concert appearances in the aughts.

89. “My Beautiful Reward” (Lucky Town, 1992) – A dreamy, impressionistic lyric wrapped around a gorgeous melody.

88. “Cautious Man” (Tunnel Of Love, 1987) – A spare acoustic ballad about an overly thoughtful man caught between love and fear. (Nothing autobiographical there, nope nope nope.)

87. “Leap Of Faith” (Lucky Town, 1992) – Sex, religion and baseball never mixed so well as on this exuberant celebration of falling in love. (You could call it the Bull Durham of Bruce songs.)

86. “Ramrod” (The River, 1980) – Bruce has rarely been subtle with his double entendres; certainly not with this early-rock raveup entreating his girl to “go ramrodding tonight.”

85. “Letter To You” (Letter To You, 2020) – Sentimental, nostalgic, stately, moving.

84. “I’ll See You In My Dreams” (Letter To You, 2020) – See above.

83. “Gypsy Biker” (Magic, 2007) – Another compellingly told tale of a troubled veteran.

82. “Local Hero” (Lucky Town, 1992) – Self-deprecating Bruce is usually a good time, especially when he nails a chorus.

81. “Ain’t Got You” (Tunnel Of Love, 1987) – Ruefully self-aware Bruce is usually a good time, especially when he nails a punchline.

80. “Stolen Car” (The River, 1980) – A somber ballad about a troubled relationship whose lyric reads like a preface to the entire Tunnel Of Love album.

79. “Where The Bands Are” (Tracks, 1998) – A River-era shot at writing an exuberant British Invasion single that nails it.

78. “I Wanna Be With You” (Tracks, 1998) – A River-era shot at writing a tight, catchy hit single that nails it. (“Hungry Heart” might have more weight and pathos, but this one has more joy and flair.)

77. “Lucky Town” (Lucky Town, 1992) – The guitar tones might sound a little dated now, but the song itself is a sturdy rocker.

76. “Into The Fire” (The Rising, 2002) – A pulsing, billowing, deeply moving celebration of courage.

75. “Souls Of The Departed” (Lucky Town, 1992) – War is hell—in this case, the first Gulf War.

74. “My Hometown” (Born In The USA, 1984) – This melancholy coda to Born In The USA underscores the album’s themes of connection and despair, nostalgia and determination.

73. “Pink Cadillac” (B-side, 1984) – A silly novelty song that the man sings with total commitment and abundant panache.

72. “The Line” (Ghost Of Tom Joad, 1995) – Like “Highway Patrolman” before it, a resonant story-song about testing the limits of loyalty and brotherhood.

71. “It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City” (Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., 1973) – “I had skin like leather and the diamond-hard look of a cobra / I was born blue and weathered but I burst just like a supernova”…

70. “Downbound Train” (Born In The USA, 1984) – To me, this one has always felt like a sequel to “The River.”

69. “The E Street Shuffle” (The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, 1973) – When Bruce gets funky, “everything’s all right.”

68. “Cover Me” (Born In The USA, 1984) – In which Bruce writes a song for Donna Summer, ends up keeping it, and finds a way to make a disco beat sound foreboding.

67. “Ghosts” (Letter To You, 2020) – If this is the last widescreen anthem the man ever records, he finished that particular string on a high note.

66. “For You” (Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., 1973) – Yearning yet prickly, this one always contained multitudes that I’m still not sure Bruce quite figured out.

65. “Point Blank” (The River, 1980) – Just the way he sings the title captures such a tangle of emotions.

64. “Book Of Dreams” (Lucky Town, 1992) – Call me a sentimental old fool and I will thank you kindly for the compliment.

63. “Working On The Highway” (Born In The USA, 1984) – Bruce’s rockabilly romp might not have a ton of substance, but the pushing backbeat and handclaps are hard to resist.

62. “Better Days” (Lucky Town, 1992) – An underrated anthem to domestic bliss with a powerful surge at the chorus.

61. “The Ties That Bind” (The River, 1980) – My favorite of the serious mid-tempo numbers sprinkled through The River.


60. “One Step Up” (Tunnel Of Love, 1987) – Even dated ’80s synth tones can’t knock a lyric this devastating too far down the list.

59. “Land of Hope and Dreams” (Live In New York City, 2001 / Wrecking Ball, 2012) – It’s easy to understand why they took so long to release a studio version of this 1999-2000 reunion tour highlight; the live version remains definitive.

58. “Cadillac Ranch” (The River, 1980) – One of the bright spots on the largely dark second half of The River, a 4/4 hoot fresh from a ’62 rock show, with saxophonist Clarence Clemons putting the cherry on top.\

57. “Spare Parts” (Tunnel Of Love, 1987) – An unsparing tale of dissolution and resilience, set to a driving backbeat and growling harmonica.

56. “Johnny 99” (Nebraska, 1982) – A genuinely searing murder ballad.

55. “My Love Will Not Let You Down” (Tracks, 1998) – A pumping, urgent number that The Boss opened many shows with in the years after it was resurrected on Tracks.

54. Meeting Across the River” (Born To Run, 1975) – A jazzy, atmospheric snippet of a song bridging “She’s The One” to “Jungleland,” that’s nonetheless a vital piece of that album’s puzzle.

53. “Something In The Night” (Darkness On The Edge Of Town, 1978) – Roy Bittan making magic at the piano as Bruce’s wordless cries arc into the night… is just the first 1:10 of this stately number.

52. “Lost In The Flood” (Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., 1973) – A strong early story-song that feels like a signpost pointing toward “Backstreets” and “Jungleland.”

51. “The Promise” (Tracks, 1998 / The Promise, 2010) – The only track left off of Darkness that maybe shoulda-coulda made it on, a desolate lament about the broken trust that kept Bruce in court for three years.

 

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Intermission: A Hat Tip to The E Street Band

Every Bruce Springsteen studio album is credited only to him. Every Bruce Springsteen live album—with the exception of 1992’s MTV Plugged—is credited to Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band.

The band was created to support Bruce and bring his studio creations to life onstage, originating in a loose gang of Jersey locals that initially included Danny Federici (keys, accordion), David Sancious (keys), Garry Tallent (bass), Vini Lopez (drums), and the group’s visual and spiritual focal point, Clarence Clemons (sax, a.k.a. The Big Man).

By the time Born To Run was issued in 1975, Roy Bittan (piano, keys), Max Weinberg (drums), and Springsteen’s good friend Steven Van Zandt (guitar, harmony vocals, a.k.a. Little Steven) had joined up. The classic E Street Band lineup of Van Zandt, Bittan, Federici, Tallent, Weinberg and Clemons lasted nine momentous years, during which the group progressed from headlining theaters to stadiums without ever losing their loose precision and infectious brotherhood.

The brotherhood expanded in 1984 with the addition of Patti Scialfa on harmony vocals and occasional guitar around the same time that Van Zandt departed, replaced by Nils Lofgren. In 1989, Springsteen dismissed the E Street Band, recording and touring with other musicians (with the exception of the returning Bittan and Scialfa) through 1992 and 1993.

The band reconvened briefly in 1995—with both Lofgren and the returning Van Zandt included—to record four new songs for the Greatest Hits album, but wouldn’t tour again until the widely hailed reunion tour of 1999-2000. Though staggered by the losses of original members Federici (who passed in 2008) and Clemons (who followed in 2011), the E Street Band endures today as an essential part of the Springsteen story and one of the most lauded and legendary backing bands in rock and roll history.

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50. “Incident On 57th Street” (The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, 1973) – A sly and thoroughly groovy charmer featuring the resonant organ work of David Sancious.

49. “Hungry Heart” (The River, 1980) – It’s a hell of a hook.

48. “I’m Goin’ Down” (Born In The USA, 1984) – In which Bruce’s love of country-influenced early rockers like Carl Perkins makes sinking into a depression sound like a good time.

47. “You Can Look (But You’d Better Not Touch)” (The River, 1980) – As we’ve discussed, jokey songs often don’t hold up well on repeat listens, but this one still makes me smile.

46. “Night” (Born To Run, 1975) – Pure unfiltered adrenalin.

45. “Streets Of Philadelphia” (Philadelphia soundtrack, 1993) – Bracingly different, utterly gorgeous.

44. “Drive All Night” (The River, 1980) – A gentle, sweeping epic of devotion, rendered with Born To Run expansiveness and fervor, with Clemons featured.

43. “The Price You Pay” (The River, 1980) – A weighty, stately mid-tempo weeper with especially sharp work by Bittan (piano), Federici (organ and accordion), and Springsteen himself (harmonica).

42. “Bobby Jean” (Born In The USA, 1984) – A warm yet melancholy friendship song, built around a simple earworm hook played by Bittan.

41. “New York City Serenade” (The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, 1973) – A moody, atmospheric, unhurried dress rehearsal for Born To Run.

40. “Dancing In The Dark” (Born In The USA, 1984) – In which Bruce vents his frustrations in the pages of his notebook and stumbles onto a hit single. The synth tone might feel dated now, but the song’s core remains volcanic.

39. “Adam Raised A Cain” (Darkness On The Edge Of Town, 1978) – Bruce and his dad seemed to work through their issues over the years, but in 1978 it was still raw and explosive.

38. “Glory Days” (Born In The USA, 1984) – Probably the jolliest song ever written about aging out of your youthful dreams and into the rest of your life.

37. “Spirit In The Night” (Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., 1973) – If John Hammond thought he was getting “the next Bob Dylan,” this raucous number is where Bruce took the creative wheel back.

36. “Nebraska” (Nebraska, 1982) – A haunting tale told with total commitment.

35. “If I Should Fall Behind” (Lucky Town, 1992) – Among his most perceptive and artful relationship songs, in concert they turned it into a friendship/unity thing, but to me it was always about Bruce and Patti learning how to make love last.

34. “Fire” (Live 1975-85, 1986 / The Promise, 2010) – Written and recorded during the Darkness sessions and given to The Pointer Sisters, Bruce’s version is simply smoking.

33. “Highway Patrolman” (Nebraska, 1982) – Spare, understated and among the best story-songs the man has ever written. “A man turns his back on his family / Well, he just ain’t no good.”

32. “Living Proof” (Lucky Town, 1992) – A breathtaking freeze-frame of the moment when the son became the father to a son of his own. The entire song feels like a wolf howling at the moon.

31. “Independence Day” (The River, 1980) – A moving, melancholy mid-tempo number about getting out of a bad situation.

30. “I’m On Fire” (Born In The USA, 1984) – Sometimes a persistent smolder puts off more heat than a fast-moving blaze.

29. “Tunnel Of Love” (Tunnel Of Love, 1987) – A darkly insightful look inside a failing relationship, it’s a brighter, bolder version of the nonetheless more powerful “Brilliant Disguise.”

28. “Roulette” (B-side, 1988 / Tracks, 1998) – One of his legendary “lost” tracks, a storming, headlong number powered by paranoia and fear.

27. “Atlantic City” (Nebraska, 1982) – Even in its original bare-bones acoustic form, this feels like an anthem.

26. “4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)” (The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, 1973) – Bruce’s early songs overflow with musical and lyrical ideas. This is where he began sculpting away the excesses and discovering the power of a more direct approach.

25. “The Rising” (The Rising, 2002) – The anthem America needed, right when we needed it.

24. “She’s The One” (Born To Run, 1975) – Certainty is a powerful thing.

23. “Two Hearts” (The River, 1980) – My second favorite River rocker features Max Weinberg driving the band like the tricked-out muscle car it is.

22. “Out In The Street” (The River, 1980) – A delirious rocker; something about the momentum and call-and-answer vocals between Bruce and Little Steven makes me think of West Side Story.

21. “Darlington County” (Born In The USA, 1984) – Many would rank this lower; what can I say, I’m a sucker for “sha la la”s and self-deprecating humor.


20. “Blinded By The Light” (Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., 1973) – The word is “deuce” (IYKYK). A hook-filled sprint through young Bruce’s technicolor imagination.

19. “Tougher Than The Rest” (Tunnel Of Love, 1987) – A mature, insightful, tough-as-nails love song featuring one of the most entrancing melodic hooks of the man’s career.

18. “Candy’s Room” (Darkness On The Edge Of Town, 1978) – Three minutes of desperate longing; as taut, urgent, and explosive as anything he’s ever recorded.

17. “Growin’ Up” (Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., 1973) – Springsteen’s famously stormy relationship with his father would provide fodder for many great songs, but none ever combined the threads of love and tension more effectively.

16. “No Surrender” (Born In The USA, 1984) – The Born In The USA album is where Bruce first gave center stage to nostalgia. The best example remains the driving, witty friendship anthem he wrote for his once-and-future bandmate Little Steven.

15. “Because The Night” (Live 1975-86, 1986 / The Promise, 2010) – All due credit to Patti Smith, who took an unfinished Springsteen song and turned it into a propulsive anthem about obsession. Patti’s remains the definitive version, but Bruce’s is also a powerhouse.

14. “Brilliant Disguise” (Tunnel Of Love, 1987) – One of the most remarkable songs ever written about a disintegrating relationship: mature, self-aware, absolutely devastating.

13. “Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out” (Born To Run, 1975) – The exuberance of The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle super-sized with Born To Run ambition equaled an all-out party jam and six-decade concert staple.

12. “The River” (The River, 1980) – A clearer and more detailed vision of the darkness the previous album’s protagonist sensed up ahead, and one of Bruce’s most affecting narratives.

11. “Prove It All Night” (Darkness On The Edge Of Town, 1978) – A muscular rocker that feels like determination personified, capped by some of Springsteen’s most intense guitar work.

10. “Born In The U.S.A.” (Born In The USA, 1984) – A spectacular, if widely misunderstood, anthem that changed its author’s life. (The haunting acoustic demo version from Tracks deserves consideration here, too.)

9. “Racing In The Street” (Darkness On The Edge Of Town, 1978) – A vivid, stunning ballad that’s less about street racers than about an existential crisis: why are we here? What is our purpose? What really matters in life?

8. “Backstreets” (Born To Run, 1975) – Even at the height of his cinematic storytelling phase, anxiety and regret loomed nearby. The friendship chronicled here is both everything, and doomed.

7. “Darkness On The Edge Of Town” (Darkness On The Edge Of Town, 1978) – A remarkable lyric that feels like a door opening into the adult world of struggle and strife explored more extensively in The River.

6. “The Promised Land” (Darkness On The Edge Of Town, 1978) – The topic sentence for not just an album, but an era, this lyric crystallized everything Springsteen was writing about during the ’70s and cast it as a vision of hope and determination.

5. “Jungleland” (Born To Run, 1975) – The apex of Springsteen’s cinematic phase is a multi-part epic lit up by Clarence Clemons’ searchlight sax solos. Seeing this played live by the classic E Street Band lineup qualifies as a life experience.

4. “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)” (The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle, 1973) – Seven minutes of pure rock and roll dynamite, limber as an Olympic gymnast and powerful as a ’65 Mustang.

3. “Thunder Road” (Born To Run, 1975) – So iconic it almost feels like a fairy tale now, “Thunder Road” begins as a beautifully crafted ballad about being rescued by love that proceeds to explode off the line like one of the street racers Bruce was writing about back then.

2. “Badlands” (Darkness On The Edge Of Town, 1978) – A darker, tighter cousin to “Born To Run,” it’s the kind of urgent, hook-filled anthem known to set off stadium-wide singalongs. Simply magnificent.

1. “Born To Run” (Born To Run, 1975) -- Overambitious, overblown, overplayed, and way too obvious; there might be a dozen good reasons not to put Springsteen’s anthem of anthems in the number one slot here. All of them are wrong. “Born To Run” is the most vibrant, thrilling and distinctive song Bruce Springsteen has ever written and recorded, and among the emblematic songs of the entire rock and roll era. End. Of. Story. (P.S. If you’ve never heard the solo acoustic version on the Chimes Of Freedom EP, fix that as soon as you possibly can. It’s stunning.)