Friday Music Break: Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen

Last month, my wife gave me a record player for my birthday. In addition to the record player, she also gave me a couple of vinyl albums to listen to. When I finally was able to get the player to work, the very first album I listened to was Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run.


Born to Run was released in 1975, and it was the third studio album from Bruce Springsteen. This album solidified Springsteen as a rock and roll superstar, and it is not difficult to understand why. This is one of my all-time favorite albums. Every song belongs on the record and contributes to the whole. It is a triumphant artistic effort, and for most fans of the Boss, Born to Run is the quintessential Springsteen album. And I should also mention that it sounds amazing on vinyl.

I could probably do a separate blog post about almost every track from this album. They are so richly textured and intentionally crafted that it is difficult not to launch into such a post. However, I will simply say that, as a whole, Born to Run develops a consistent theme and tells a certain kind of story from start to finish.

The opening song is "Thunder Road," one of my personal favorites from the Springsteen catalogue (it is also a song that I found very helpful in trying to get my son to go to sleep when he was a baby). It is about a man who has come to his girlfriend Mary's house in order to invite her to join him in leaving their small town forever. The language in this song is poetic and beautiful, perfectly describing everything from the flow of Mary's dress in the wind and the sound of the screen door as it closes behind her. Springsteen is a master storyteller, and this song is evidence of that fact. It weaves a narrative that taps into a longing within us all for something bigger, something more. Who among us has not wondered if we should set out for a new kind of adventure, a new kind of life? "Thunder Road" is a hopeful anthem for someone who has decided to do something about his longing for life ("We're pullin' outta' here to win").

The other standout tracks--"Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," "Born to Run," and "Jungleland"--deal with this same kind of inner tension: the desire for more in spite of the circumstances in our life. Most songwriters tell stories about themselves while Springsteen tells stories about all of us. The theme of the album is perfectly articulated in a line from the title track: "Someday, girl, I don't know when / We're gonna' get to that place where we really want to go / When we walk in the sun / But 'til then tramps like us, baby we were born to run." It is hope and desire, escape and potential. This is the unmistakable theme of Born to Run, and it speaks its greatest truths within its fictional stories.

It should also be said that this album showcased the late Clarence Clemons in a unique and brilliant way. The saxophone work on "Thunder Road" and "Jungleland" stand out on the album (although every note that he hits on the entire record is great). When people remember Clarence, they remember these songs.

"Born to Run" live in London, 2009-

"Thunder Road" live in 2001-

"Jungleland" live in 2001-