Bruce Springsteen The River released

The River Bruce Springsteen

Released: October 10, 1980 Peak: 14 US, 2 UK, 13 CN, 8 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 5.0 US, 0.3 UK, 10.0 world (includes US and UK), 18.07 EAS Genre: classic rock

Tracks, Disc 1: Click on a song titled for more details. The Ties That Bind [3:34] Sherry Darling [4:03] Jackson Cage [3:04] Two Hearts [2:45] Independence Day [4:50] Hungry Heart [3:19] Out in the Street [4:17] Crush on You [3:10] You Can Look But You Better Not Touch [2:37] I Wanna Marry You [3:30] The River [5:01] Tracks, Disc 2: Point Blank [6:06] Cadillac Ranch [3:03] I’m a Rocker [3:36] Fade Away [4:46] Stolen Car [3:54] Ramrod [4:05] The Price You Pay [5:29] Drive All Night [8:33] Wreck on the Highway [3:54] The Players: Bruce Springsteen (vocals, guitar, harmonica, percussion, producer, piano on “Drive All Night”) Roy Bittan (piano, organ, backing vocals) Clarence Clemons (saxophone, percussion, backing vocals) Danny Federici (organ, glockenspiel) Garry Tallent (bass) Steven Van Zandt (guitar, backing vocals, producer) Max Weinberg (drums, percussion)

Rating: 4.346 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album “Imbedded within the double-disc running time of The River is a single-disc album that follows up on the themes and sound of Darkness on the Edge of Town – wide-screen, mid-tempo rock and stories of the disillusionment of working-class life and the conflicts within families. In these songs, which include the title track, Independence Day , and Point Blank, Bruce Springsteen’s world view is just as dire as it had become on Darkness, but less judgmental.” AM “But there is also another album lurking within The River, and it is a more lighthearted pop/rock collection of short, sometimes humorous songs like Sherry Darling and I'm a Rocker.” AM The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

The Ties That Bind Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: April 10-11, 1979 and 4/10/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: The River (1980), The Ties That Bind (single album, 1980/2015), The Essential (2015) Peak: 17 CL Click for codes to charts.

Sherry Darling Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 5/25/1979, 2/23/1980, 3/8/1980, and 4/12/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: 2/20/1981 as a single (UK only), The River (1980) B-Side: “Be True” Peak: 48 UK, 21 CL Click for codes to charts.

Jackson Cage Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 2/17/1980 and 3/10/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: The River (1980) Click for codes to charts.

Two Hearts Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: February 23-24, 1980, 3/17/1980, 4/9/1980 and 4/26/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: The River (1980), Live 1975/1985 (live box set, 1986), Live in New York City (2000) Click for codes to charts.

Independence Day Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 5/29/1979, 10/11/1979, and April 24-25, 1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: The River (1980), Live 1975/1985 (live box set, 1986) Click for codes to charts. About the Song: Independence Day “is a father-and-son ballad that has little of the anger of its hard rock counterpart on Darkness on the Edge of Town, ‘Adam Raised a Cain.’” AM

Hungry Heart Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen (see lyrics here) Recorded: 6/14/1979, 6/21/1979, 9/5/1979, 3/24/1980, and 4/10/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: 10/20/1980 as a single, The River (1980), The Ties That Bind (single album, 1980/2015), Live 1975/1985 (live box set, 1986), Greatest Hits (1995), The Essential (2003), Greatest Hits (2009), The Collection (2012), The Essential (2015), Best of (2024) B-Side: “Held Up Without a Gun” Peak: 5 BB, 6 CB, 11 GR, 10 HR, 5 RR, 3 CL, 28 UK, 5 CN, 33 AU, 3 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.2 UK, 0.77 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 26.0 video, 204.57 streaming About the Song: After two albums in 1973, Bruce Springsteen had earned a reputation as a fantastic live act but wasn’t doing much in the sales department. His third album, 1975’s Born to Run, was a make-or-break moment – and he delivered big. The anthemic title track became one of rock’s most important songs, capturing the restless spirit of the genre combined with a Wall of Sound even Phil Spector would envy. 1978’s follow-up album, Darkness on the Edge of Town, was another success but didn’t deliver a blockbuster single. It took “Springsteen five years after ‘Born to Run’ to figure out the mechanics of making a good single.” DM “Hungry Heart” managed to pull off what even “Born to Run” couldn’t – it reached the top ten on the Billboard Hot 100. Springsteen originally wrote the song for the Ramones but decided to keep it. His songs “Blinded by the Light,” “Because the Night,” and “Fire” all became hits in others’ hands and Jon Landau, Springsteen’s producer and manager, didn’t want to see another hit slip away. The title of the song comes from the poem “Ulysses” by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. WK The song has a “rollicking musical track” AM marked by “fevered brightness, all splashy drums and keyboards, underpinned by baritone sax and topped off by soaring…harmonies and a Springsteen vocal sped up to the limits of pitch control.” DM “The production is as kitchen-sink as ‘Born to Run,’ but that doesn’t make it gimmicky…just lush and elaboroate, less angular and hard, more resilient and pop.” DM The song has “a more sober lyrical theme that emphasizes longing over disappointment.” AM “Hungry Heart” features “one of the more disruptive opening couplets of the eighties: ‘Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack / Went out for a ride and I never came back.’” DM It uses the familiar trope of a deadbeat dad who goes out for cigarettes and disappears for twenty years, but Springsteen also taps the protagonist’s “vulnerability and desire” for reconciliation with an “unusual frankness.” DM

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Out in the Street Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 3/21/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: The River (1980), Live in New York City (2000), The Essential (2015) Peak: 15 CL Click for codes to charts. About the Song: At times, Springsteen is both funny and lighthearted, “as on Out in the Street, perhaps the album’s quintessential song, a catchy, up-tempo number that sounds like something from the early '60s and echoes the theme of the Vogues’ 1966 hit ‘Five O’ Clock World.’” AM

Crush on You Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: October 11-12, 1979 at the Power Station in New York Released: The River (1980)

You Can Look But You Better Not Touch Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 2/17/1980, 2/23/1980, 4/1/1980, 4/9/1980, and 4/21/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: The River (1980), version 1: The Ties That Bind (single album, 1980/2015), Live 1975/1985 (live box set, 1986)

I Wanna Marry You Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 7/5/1979, 7/11/1979, 7/12/1979, 4/12/1980, 5/6/1980 and 5/7/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: The River (1980), The Ties That Bind (single album, 1980/2015)

The River Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen (see lyrics here) Recorded: 8/26/1979, 8/29/1979, 1/21/1980, 4/12/1980, and 4/24/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: April 1981 as a single, The River (1980), The Ties That Bind (single album, 1980/2015), Live 1975/1985 (live box set, 1986), Greatest Hits (1995), Live in New York City (2000), The Essential (2003), Greatest Hits (2009), The Essential (2015), Chapter and Verse (2016), Best of (2024) B-Side: “Independence Day” First Charted: June 13, 1981 Peak: 19 CL, 35 UK, 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.2 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 109.28 streaming About the Song: Bruce Springsteen recorded “The River” for an album called The Ties That Bind. When he decided to expand the album to a double, he re-titled it The River. The title cut and six other cuts from Ties emerged on the new album. Springsteen said he considered “The River,” “Point Blank,” “Independence Day,” and “Stolen Car,” to be “the heart and soul” of the album. WK Much as on previous album Darkness on the Edge of Town and songs like “Racing in the Street,” “Springsteen’s heroes again seek to overcome their crushing troubles through defiance and by driving around.” AM The song was inspired by Springsteen’s sister Ginny and her husband Mickey. They got married when she was still a teenager and he faced challenges when he lost his construction job but still worked hard to support his wife and child without complaining. SF Writer Robert Hilburn described the song as “a classic outline of someone who has to re-adjust his dreams quickly.” WK The song drew inspiration from Hank Williams. It depicts economic difficulties interlaced with local culture with some inspiration in “Long Gone Lonesome Blues” WK and also was influenced by “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in It.” SF The song foreshadowed the more stripped-down style of his next album, 1982’s Nebraska, with its “haunting harmonica part” WK and “a sense of hopelessness.” WK “The River” was released as a single in Europe, reaching #35 in the UK and was a top 10 hit in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Portugal. It got to #1 in Israel. The song was not released as a single in the United States but did garner airplay on album-rock radio stations and became one of the best-known songs in Springsteen’s repertoire. During his tour for Born in the U.S.A., Springsteen would often tell a story about his conflict with his father while growing up before playing the song. It was included on the box set Live/1975-85.

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Point Blank Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 8/23/1979 (?), 8/25/1979 (?), and 2/16/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: 1981 as a single (UK), The River (1980) B-Side: “Ramrod” Charted: 4/4/1981 as an album track Peak: 20 AR Click for codes to charts.

Cadillac Ranch Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 2/16/1980, 3/9/1980, 3/15/1980, 3/17/1980, 4/9/1980, and 4/26/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: August 1981 as a single (UK), The River (1980), Live 1975/1985 (live box set, 1986) B-Side: “Wreck on the Highway” Charted: 3/28/1981 as an album track Peak: 48 AR, 70 UK Click for codes to charts.

I’m a Rocker Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: late 1979/early 1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: The River (1980) Charted: 3/21/1981 as an album track Peak: 42 AR Click for codes to charts.

Fade Away Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 3/9/1980, 3/15/1980; March 15-17, 1980; 4/9/1980; and 4/29/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: 1/22/1981 as a single, The River (1980) B-Side: “Be True” Peak: 20 BB, 20 CB, 22 HR, 20 RR, 14 AR, 19 CN Click for codes to charts.

Stolen Car Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1/21/1980, 2/20/1980, 4/1/1980, 4/9/1980, and 5/9/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: The River (1980), version 1: The Ties That Bind (single album, 1980/2015), Tracks (box set, 1998) About the Song: “Stolen Car and the album-closing Wreck on the Highway [are] gentle, moody ballads imbued with a sense of hopelessness that anticipate his next record, Nebraska.” AM

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

Ramrod Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/12/1979, 8/27/1979, 9/5/1979, 4/4/1980, and 4/19/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: The River (1980), Live in New York City (2000) Charted: 4/11/1981 as an album track Peak: 30 AR Click for codes to charts.

The Price You Pay Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/15/1979, 6/18/1979, 6/19/1979, 6/21/1979, and 4/4/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: The River (1980), The Ties That Bind (single album, 1980/2015)

Drive All Night Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/16/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 8/24/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2/24/1980, 3/8/1980, 3/16/1980, and 4/10/1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: The River (1980) About the Song: Bruce “posits romance as a possible escape…on the eight-plus-minute Drive All Night.” AM

Wreck on the Highway Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: April 10-12, 1980 at the Power Station in New York Released: The River (1980) About the Song: “Stolen Car and the album-closing Wreck on the Highway [are] gentle, moody ballads imbued with a sense of hopelessness that anticipate his next record, Nebraska.” AM

Notes: In 2015, Bruce Springsteen’s 1980 album The River was reissued as a four-disc box set The Ties That Bind: The River Collection. It included the two original discs plus a third disc that consisted of the original proposed one-album disc The Ties That Bind and a fourth disc comprised of outtakes. Click on the highlighted links for more details. Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com review of The River by William Ruhlmann DM Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New American Library: New York, NY. Pages 405-6. SF Songfacts page for “The River” WK Wikipedia page for The River WK Wikipedia page for “Hungry Heart” WK Wikipedia page for “The River” Related DMDB Pages: First posted 3/23/2008; last updated 7/31/2025.