Bruce Springsteen Letter to You released

Letter to You Bruce Springsteen

Released: October 23, 2020 Peak: 2 US, 11 UK, 2 CN, 11 AU Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.1 UK, 0.23 world (includes US and UK) Genre: rock

Tracks: Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks) Click for codes to singles charts. One Minute You’re Here [2:57] Letter to You [4:55] (9/10/20, 1 AA) Burnin’ Train [4:03] Janey Needs a Shooter [6:49] Last Man Standing [4:05] The Power of Prayer [3:36] (11/23/20, --) House of a Thousand Guitars [4:30] Rainmaker [4:56] If I Was the Priest [6:50] Ghosts [5:54] (9/24/20, --) I’ll See You in My Dreams [3:29] (3/3/21, --) All songs written by Bruce Springsteen. Total Running Time: 58:17 The Players: Bruce Springsteen (vocals, guitar, harmonica, production) Steven Van Zandt (guitar, backing vocals) Max Weinberg (drums, backing vocals) Roy Bittan (piano, backing vocals) Nils Lofgren (guitar, backing vocals) Garry Talent (bass, backing vocals) Patti Scialfa (backing vocals) Jake Clemons (saxophone) Charles Giordano (organ, backing vocals)

Rating: 4.250 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings) Quotable: “One of the finest achievements of Bruce Springsteen’s career.” – Alex McLevy, The A.V. Club

About the Album: For his 20th studio album, Bruce Springsteen reunited with the E Street Band for their first release since 2014’s High Hopes. However, it was the first time the band had worked in the studio together since 2009’s Woking on a Dream. AMG They assembled at Springsteen’s home in November 2019 and recorded live in the studio over just four days with no demos and minimal overdubs. WK Three of the songs were written before the release of Springsteen’s debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., in 1973. Springsteen was assembling a compilation album and came across If I Was the Priest, Janey Needs a Shooter, and Song for Orphans. Allan Clarke had covered “If I Was the Priest” in the 1970s and Warren Zevon had reworked “Janey Needs a Shooter” for his 1980 album Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School. The old songs and the new come together to make Letter to You “often…sound like vintage E Street Band.” AMG It was his 21st top-10 album in the United States. The group planned to tour in support of the album, but couldn’t because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The album was promoted via an online radio station, music videos, and a custom Twitter emoji. WK A documentary on the making of the album was released on Apple TV+. In a sense, this is a sequel to Springsteen’s 2016 Born to Run memoir and accompanying Springsteen on Broadway show in 2017. The album addresses aging, mortality, and regret. Springsteen “reckons with the weight of the past…keenly aware he has more road in his rearview mirror than he does on the highway ahead of him.” AMG He had been experiencing writer’s block, but did some intense writing in April 2019, inspired in part by the death of former bandmate George Theiss. WK The Associated Press’ David Bauder thought it was “ironic that the composer of ‘Glory Days’ spends so much time looking back.” WK Mark Richardson of The Wall Street Journal called it a concept album about music’s ability to give life meaning. WK The Boston Globe’s Ken Capbianco called the album “a celebration of life and a reminder of how rock ‘n’ roll can help transcend grief and loss.” WK Uncut’s Richard Williams said the album was “about Springsteen, his relationship with his band, and their relationship with the audience, particularly in their ability to interpret American culture, history, and politics.” WK The A.V. Club’s Alex McLevy called the album “one of the finest achievements of Bruce Springsteen’s career.” WK Spin’s John Paul Bullock called it “one of the warmest and most reassuring records of [Springsteen’s] career.” WK

Resources and Related Links: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Bruce Springsteen AMG All Music Guide review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine WK Wikipedia Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 8/29/2021.

Bruce Springsteen The Promise released

The Promise Bruce Springsteen

Released: November 16, 2010 Recorded: 1977-78, 2010 Peak: 16 US, 7 UK, 27 CN, 22 AU, 14 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.1 UK, 0.85 world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock

Tracks, Disc 1: Click on a song titled for more details. Click for codes to charts. Racing in the Street (’78) Gotta Get That Feeling Outside Looking In Someday We’ll Be Together One Way Street Because the Night Wrong Side of the Street The Brokenhearted Rendezvous Candy’s Boy Tracks, Disc 2: Save My Love Ain’t Good Enough for You Fire Spanish Eyes It’s a Shame Come On (Let’s Go Tonight) Talk to Me The Little Things My Baby Does Breakaway The Promise City of Night The Way Total Running Time: 88:05 The Players: Bruce Springsteen (vocals, guitar, harmonica, producer) Roy Bittan (piano) Clarence Clemons (saxophone, percussion) Danny Federici (organ, glockenspiel) Garry Tallent (bass) Steven Van Zandt (guitar, harmony vocals, horn arrangement) Max Weinberg (drums)

Rating: 3.733 out of 5.00 (average of 18 ratings) Quotable: “As compelling an advert for the Boss’ beautiful, blue-collar soul as you’re likely to find outside of the hits.” – BBC Music Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “Following Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen was proclaimed the savior of rock & roll classicism; it was hype that threatened to derail his career. In a bitter lawsuit with his former manager, he was locked out of a studio for two years but continued writing songs at fever pitch and rehearsing them on a farm in rural New Jersey. Some of these tunes – composed during an economic recession – reflect the tension between following one’s dreams and her/his responsibilities. Still others reveal the deep influence of early rock & roll on Springsteen.” TJ “When he was finally able to record, he cut enough material for four albums, and then pared it down to one. Darkness on the Edge of Town proved that Springsteen was no mere revivalist. The album was assembled from more sparsely produced, claustrophobic, and desperate ‘sound picture’ songs, about lives broken by work, family and perceived societal obligations, and are haunted by questions of ‘what if?’ They were a world away from the epic, busting-out-for-freedom maximalist tracks found on Born to Run.” TJ As Springsteen said, “Darkness was my 'samurai' record…stripped to the frame and ready to rumble. But the music that got left behind was substantial.” AZ The Promise gathers a large chunk of that substantial music, offering up “21 unreleased songs written (and mostly) recorded between 1976 and 1978. They offer an aural view as to what might have been had Springsteen been able to record immediately after Born to Run.” TJ In fact, Springsteen confirms, that this material “perhaps could have/ should have been released after Born to Run and before the collection of songs that Darkness on the Edge of Town became.” AZ “While some lyric themes here reflect the brokenness and hard choices found on Darkness, others are substantially more triumphant in their worldview; and musically, all the songs here contain more substantially production. These selections also lack the knife-edge, searing, angry guitar that saturates Darkness.” TJ “The Promise stands on its own as a great Bruce Springsteen record; it feels finished, focused, and above all, offers definitive proof that Springsteen was even at that early date, one of the greatest rock and pop songwriters America had to offer.” TJ As BBC Music said, the album “is as compelling an advert for the Boss’ beautiful, blue-collar soul as you’re likely to find outside of the hits; an indispensible portrait of an artist at the top of his game.” WK “According to long-time manager/producer Jon Landau, ‘There isn’t a weak card in this deck.’” AZ The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

Gotta Get That Feeling Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 8/12/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 8/30/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: “The galloping Gotta Get That Feeling summons Jack Nietszche’s production ears with its big mariachi brass.” TJ “This tune and numerous others contain open homages to Phil Spector’s ‘sha-na-na-na’ choruses. Clarence Clemons’ saxophone is much more prevalent on the songs of The Promise than it is on Darkness. His meat-and-potatoes tone adds heft and groove to these selections.” TJ

Outside Looking In Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 9/27/1977 at the Record Plant in New York Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

Someday We’ll Be Together Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: September 29-30, 1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: Someday We’ll Be Together” is a “supreme pop opus.” AZ

One Way Street Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 7/17/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

Because the Night Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith Recorded: 9/27/197 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey; live: 12/28/1980 Released: The Promise (1978/2010); live version: Live 1975/1985 (live box set, 1986), Greatest Hits (2009) First Charted: 12/6/1986 Peak: 22 AR, 6 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 11.2 video, 31.45 streaming Covered by: Patti Smith (1978 #13 BB, 10 CB, 17 HR, 19 RR, 4 CL, 3 CO, 5 UK, 7 DF), 10,000 Maniacs (1993, #11 BB, 9 CB, 7 RR, 9 AC, 7 MR, 65 UK, 12 DF) About the Song: “Included are his versions of singles farmed out to other artists – Because the Night (and while this version is terrific, it means something else in the end; Patti Smith’s version remains definitive).” TJ

Wrong Side of the Street Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 10/14/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

The Brokenhearted Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 11/29/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: The poignant love poetry in” TJ “the superb soul-based vocal performance on” AZ “The Brokenhearted and Spanish Eyes could have been written by Doc Pomus, and reveals the influence of Jerry Leiber’s ‘Spanish Harlem.’” TJ

Rendezvous Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: studio: 9/29/1977; live: 12/31/1980 at the Record Plant Mobile in Los Angeles, CA Released: studio: The Promise (1978/2010); live: Tracks (box set, 1998), 18 Tracks (1999) Covered by: Greg Kihn Band (1979), Gary “U.S.” Bonds (1982) About the Song: Bruce first recorded this song during the sessions for Darkness on the Edge of Town. It didn’t make the cut, but the Greg Kihn Band and Gary “U.S.” Bonds both covered the song. “Musically, it’s a Springsteen-style rock song, with a glockenspiel, a wall of guitars and a dash of pop.” MG-396

Candy’s Boy Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/3/1977, 6/6/1977, 6/27/1977, 8/24/1977 and 9/2/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: “Candy’s Boy begins lyrically in the same place as ‘Candy’s Room,’ [which appeared on Darkness on the Edge of Town] but is a very different song melodically and thematically.” TJ

Save My Love Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 1976 (written but not recorded), 7/22/2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: 11/1/2010 as a single, The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: In releasing The Promise (an extension of Darkness on the Edge of Town album), Springsteen relied on the vaults as a starting point but often did some rerecording of the songs to get them up to snuff. In the case of “Save My Love,” Springsteen wrote the song in 1976 but didn’t record it although there is video of the E Street Band rehearsing the song. It is a “musically finished but lyrically rough song.” ESS Thom Zinny found it “while scouring footage for the documentary that would accompany the anniversary box set for Darkness on the Edge of Town. Zimny loved the song, and Bruce was fascinated by it as well – enough to finish the lyrics and summon the E Street Band to his home studio to record it.” ESS They had to learn the song by watching the video. ESS The song recalls a time when “a handful of radio stations facilitated the only semblance of on-line community.” ESS The song is about a “long-distance Romeo [who] sends a silent message out to his girl, pledging and pleading for fidelity, relying on the power of radio to keep their emotional connection strong.” ESS

Ain’t Good Enough for You Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 9/26/1977 at the Record Plant in New York Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: The “hilarious” AZ “Ain't Good Enough for You is pure handclap, call-and-response, verse and chorus, approaching a doo wop celebration.” TJ

Fire Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/17/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey; live version: 12/16/1978 Released: January 1987 as a single (live version), The Promise (1978/2010); live version: Live 1975/1985 (live box set, 1986), Greatest Hits (2009) B-Side: “Incident on 57th Street” (live) Charted: 11/22/1986 as an album cut (live version) Peak: 46 BB, 36 GR, 14 AR, 54 UK, 42 CN, 82 AU, 3 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 27.1 video, 25.94 streaming Covered by: the Pointer Sisters (1978 #2 BB, 2 CB, 2 R, 2 RR, 21 AC, 14 RB, 34 UK, 3 CN, 7 AU, 3 DF) About the Song: Bruce gave “the gritty, soulful Fire…to the Pointer Sisters who scored big with their classy version.” TJ It peaked at #2, making it the second-highest charting Bruce Springsteen-penned song – tied with “Dancing in the Dark” but just behind Manfred Mann’s chart-topping version of “Blinded by the Light.”

Spanish Eyes Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/30/1977, 7/13/1977, 8/13/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: The poignant love poetry in” TJ “the superb soul-based vocal performance on” AZ “The Brokenhearted and Spanish Eyes could have been written by Doc Pomus, and reveals the influence of Jerry Leiber’s ‘Spanish Harlem.’” TJ

It’s a Shame Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/14/1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

Come On (Let’s Go Tonight) Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 12/9/1977 and 12/29/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: Come On (Let's Go Tonight) is an early version of ‘Factory,’” TJ which appeared on Darkness on the Edge of Town.

Talk to Me Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 10/14/1077 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

The Little Things My Baby Does Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 8/15/1977 at the Record Plant or Atlantic Records in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

Breakaway Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 6/1/1977 (?) at Atlantic Studios in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: Breakaway” is “utterly haunting.” AZ

The Promise Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 9/28/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; February 1999; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010), 18 Tracks (1999) About the Song: The “fully orchestrated masterpiece and title song,” AZ The Promise, “is the only cut that might have added something to Darkness that isn’t already there. Its sense of bewilderment, betrayal, uncertainty, and regret is total. That said, the addition of strings draws it outside Darkness’ skeletal purview, underscoring the fact that Darkness is perfect as it is.” TJ

City of Night Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 10/14/1977 at the Record Plant in New York; 2010 at Thrill Hill Recording in Colts Neck, New Jersey Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

The Way Bruce Springsteen

Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen Recorded: 8/15/1977 at the Record Plant or Atlantic Studios in New York Released: The Promise (1978/2010) About the Song: A

Resources/References: AZ Amazon.com TJ AllMusic.com review by Thom Jurek ESS EStreetShuffle.com MG Philippe Margotin & Jean-Michel Guesdon (2020). Bruce Springsteen – All The Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. Cassel (an imprint of Octopus Publishing Group Ltd.): Great Britain. WK Wikipedia Related DMDB Pages: First posted 1/26/2011; last updated 8/1/2025.

 

Bonnie Tyler hit #1 in the U.S. with “Total Eclipse of the Heart”

Total Eclipse of the Heart Bonnie Tyler

Writer(s): Jim Steinman (see lyrics here) Released: February 11, 1983 First Charted: February 19, 1983 Peak: 14 US, 14 CB, 15 GR, 13 RR, 7 AC, 23 AR, 12 UK, 12 CN, 16 AU, 2 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 1.0 UK, 6.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 2.0 radio, 928.66 video, 434.94 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: After Bonnie Tyler had a top-5 hit with “It’s a Heartache” in 1978, she disappeared from the charts for five years. After signing to new management, she wondered if Jim Steinman, the guy who produced Meat Loaf’s Bat Out of Hell, an album she loved, would be available to produce. Stereogum’s Tom Breihan described him as “aspiring Broadway guy who doesn’t come from the rock ecosystem and who…uses ever tool at his disposal to achieve full [Phil] Spector/ [Bruce] Springsteen grandiosity.” SG Tyler also loved the kind of sound that Phil Spector used to get and said, “The only producer who can get that epic sound nowadays is Jim Steinman…I didn’t really think he’d do it.” FB When he agreed, she flew to New York to meet him. He played her “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” a song he’d written for the movie Small Circle of Friends. As she said, “when he plays, he practically knocks [the piano] through the floor.” FB He assembled an all-star band for her album Faster Than the Speed of Night which included guitarist Rick Derringer, drummer Max Weinberg, and keyboardist Roy Bittan. Not only were the latter two part of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, but they’d played on Bat Out of Hell. Faster Than the Speed of Night debuted at #1 in England, making Tyler the first woman to accomplish that feat. The lead single, “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” reached #1 in March 1983. Seven months later the song topped the charts in the U.S. as well. “Total Eclipse of the Heart” is “pop music as heart-pounding, chest-thumping, blood-gargling, heavens-falling passion explosion.” SG “The term ‘power ballad’ doesn’t adequately describe…[the song] if only because the word ‘power’ just doesn’t have enough power.” SG Tyler is “pleading and wailing and howling and screaming like she’s standing on a mountaintop and demanding answers from God.” SG “Nobody’s entirely sure what…[it] is about, and nobody needs to know. ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ overwhelms the idea of songwriting specificity in the same way that a tidal wave overwhelms a rowboat.” SG Steinman once described it as “a Wagnerian-like onslaught of sound and emotion.” SG “Tyler went on to a long career of howling power ballads…but…never made it into the US top 10 again…But people will always need songs to dramatically bellow when they’re drunk, which means ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ will live on forever.” SG Resources: DMDB encyclopedia entry for Bonnie Tyler DMDB encyclopedia entry for Jim Steinman FB Fred Bronson (2007). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (4th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 578. KL Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh (2005). 1000 UK Number One Hits: The Stories Behind Every Number One Single Since 1952. London, Great Britain: Omnibus Press. Page 289. SG Stereogum (7/27/2020). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan WK Wikipedia First posted 11/29/2021; last updated 12/27/2022.

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.