In 1973, Springsteen released his first two albums, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. and The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, neither of which earned him a large audience. He changed his style and reached worldwide popularity with Born to Run in 1975. It was followed by Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) and The River (1980), which topped the US Billboard 200 chart. After the solo recording, Nebraska (1982), he reunited with the E Street Band for Born in the U.S.A. (1984), his most commercially successful album and one of the best-selling albums of all time. Seven of its singles reached the Top Ten of the Billboard Hot 100, including the title track. Springsteen recorded his next three albums, Tunnel of Love (1987), Human Touch (1992), and Lucky Town (1992) using mostly session musicians. He reassembled the E Street Band for 1995's Greatest Hits, then recorded the sparse acoustic The Ghost of Tom Joad, followed by the EP Blood Brothers (1996), his last release of the decade.
Springsteen dedicated his 2002 album The Rising to the victims of the September 11 attacks. He released two more folk albums, Devils & Dust (2005) and We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006), followed by two more albums with the E Street Band: Magic (2007) and Working on a Dream (2009). The next two, Wrecking Ball (2012) and High Hopes (2014), topped album charts worldwide. His latest releases include the solo Western Stars (2019), the E Street Band-featuring Letter to You (2020) and a solo cover album Only the Strong Survive (2022). When Letter to You went to No.2 in the US, Springsteen became the first artist to score a Top Five hit across six consecutive decades.
Among the album era's prominent acts, Springsteen has sold more than 140 million records worldwide and more than 71 million in the United States, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists. He has earned numerous awards for his work, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Special Tony Award (for Springsteen on Broadway). Springsteen was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, named MusiCares person of the year in 2013, and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2016. He ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone's list of the Greatest Artists of All Time, which described him as being "the embodiment of rock & roll".
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen
Studio albums
Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)
The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (1973)
Born to Run (1975)
Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)
The River (1980)
Nebraska (1982)
Born in the U.S.A. (1984)
Tunnel of Love (1987)
Human Touch (1992)
Lucky Town (1992)
The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995)
The Rising (2002)
Devils & Dust (2005)
We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006)
Magic (2007)
Working on a Dream (2009)
Wrecking Ball (2012)
High Hopes (2014)
Western Stars (2019)
Letter to You (2020)
Only the Strong Survive (2022)
Border Guard
Bruce Springsteen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bless on the border guard so cold and alone
Bless on the child so far from his home
Pity the border guard who feels like a woman to cry
Pity the border guard whose life guards the line
A light is a funny thing
A border sometime
Use only to divine
I pity the refugee whose home lies behind
I pity the border guard and his border line
He keeps his machine gun nose pointed to the sky
The night time is his master
And you know the dawn light brings his captor
And I pity the border guard as he walks, well as he walks his own
The echo of his foot steps is all a friend would know
A home is a funny thing
You get tied to the earth
Like a love is a crazy thing
In the eye of a child
I Pity the border guard whose soul taken captive at birth
May the sweet brace of his grief and show him how to be so wild
Yes a light is a funny thing
A border sometimes
A light is a hurting thing
Used only to divine
He who made the open plains and the world one and all
Could not have conceived with a barbed wire brain
For the building of the wall and at night I keep my fire bright
So that I may be safe when I sleep
Till I wake on that wonderful morning with no more light well ooh
The song Border Guard by Bruce Springsteen is a heart-wrenching tale of the human cost of borders and the toll they take on those who are tasked with guarding them. The song speaks to the loneliness and isolation that can be felt by both the border guard and the refugees they are keeping out, with the chorus repeating the lines "Bless on the border guard so cold and alone, bless on the child so far from his home". Springsteen shows his empathy for both sides of the conflict, acknowledging the pain and fear that exists on both sides of the line.
The first verse describes the border guard as "so cold and alone", and goes on to "pity" them for feeling like they must put up a tough exterior despite their emotional turmoil. The second verse highlights the difficulty of being a refugee who is forced to leave their home, with Springsteen singing "I pity the refugee whose home lies behind". The chorus follows, with its repetition of the phrase "bless on the border guard" serving to emphasize the shared humanity of all those involved.
The final verse explores the idea of home, and how it can be a "funny thing". The border guard's "soul [is] taken captive at birth", while for the refugee, home lies "behind". The song ends on an ominous note, with Springsteen singing that he keeps his "fire bright", but knows that the darkness of the wall will remain until that "wonderful morning with no more light".
Overall, Border Guard is a powerful song that speaks to the struggles and pain of both those guarding borders and those trying to cross them. It is a reminder that we are all humans, and that borders can often cause more harm than good.
Line by Line Meaning
Bless on the border guard so cold and alone
May the border guard who is lonely and detached be blessed.
Bless on the child so far from his home
May the child who is displaced from their home be blessed.
Pity the border guard who feels like a woman to cry
Feel sorry for the border guard who is overwhelmed with emotions and feels like crying.
Pity the border guard whose life guards the line
Feel sorry for the border guard whose purpose in life is to protect a border.
A light is a funny thing
The concept of illumination can be ambiguous.
A border sometime
A boundary can represent different things at different times.
A light is a hurting thing
Light has the ability to cause pain.
Use only to divine
It should only be utilized to understand or comprehend something.
I pity the refugee whose home lies behind
I feel sorry for the refugee who has been forced to leave their home.
I pity the border guard and his border line
I feel sorry for the border guard and his responsibility to maintain the border.
He keeps his machine gun nose pointed to the sky
He vigilantly watches over the border with his weapon raised upwards.
The night time is his master
The darkness of the night dictates his actions and his behavior.
And you know the dawn light brings his captor
In the morning, he is a prisoner of his own duty.
And I pity the border guard as he walks, well as he walks his own
I feel sorry for the border guard as he marches along the border he is responsible for.
The echo of his footsteps is all a friend would know
The only thing that would be familiar about the border guard is the sound of his footsteps.
A home is a funny thing
The concept of a home can be ambiguous.
You get tied to the earth
One becomes emotionally invested in the land they call home.
Like a love is a crazy thing
A passionate love can be overwhelming.
In the eye of a child
A child's perspective or understanding of love can be different from an adult's.
I pity the border guard whose soul taken captive at birth
I feel sorry for the border guard who has been bound to his duties since birth.
May the sweet brace of his grief and show him how to be so wild
May the border guard find solace in his pain and be taught how to be free.
Yes a light is a funny thing
Once again, light can be ambiguous.
A border sometimes
A border has the potential to be different things at different times.
A light is a hurting thing
Light has the ability to cause pain.
Used only to divine
It should only be utilized to understand or comprehend something.
He who made the open plains and the world one and all
The creator of the earth made it without any borders or walls.
Could not have conceived with a barbed wire brain
The all-knowing creator could not have come up with such an idea of using barbed wire as a border.
For the building of the wall and at night I keep my fire bright
To protect himself at night, he keeps his fire burning strong.
So that I may be safe when I sleep
He ensures that he will be protected through the night while he sleeps.
Till I wake on that wonderful morning with no more light well ooh
He longs for a day when borders will not exist and there will be no more pain.
Contributed by Lincoln B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Bruce Frier
Amazingly relevant, after all these years.
Francisco Jose Villanueva
great song
stoneponyNJ
love this rare gem.. thxs for the post !
Dimitry Raskolnikov
Virtuoso Springsteen. I once had this CD. Lost it. I think it was, "Tracks." I always thought Bruce was saying "line" not "light." in lines 5 and 7. "Line" seems to make more sense, to me, and Bruce does say "line" at the end of line 4. Maybe the person here made a mistake when writing down these lyrics. In line 8, I think the word is "divide" not "divine," another mistake. Can anyone verify or clarify? Elucidation needed. Best line, "...barbed wire brain." This is a good song for the idiot Donald Trump. Yes, it is true. One could use the poet Robert Frost's line, "Good fences make good neighbors" as an argument. I understand this, but the universal trend and history is on the side of The Boss, a world without borders, and yes, a One World Government of pure freedom. I understand that this is idealism. But, idealism is where beauty dwells not in the practical world where there is ugliness. The abstract ideal is where there is love. The imperfect ugly world is where there is evil. The former must be "reached for." Otherwise, we are nothing but animals and should never have evolved into Human Beings with the Neocortex which allows us to have Conscious Awareness and Freewill. To go with the wall is to go backwards. The Ideal must be the carrot-at-the-end-of-the-stick. No, it cannot be reached now, but in the future, 1000 years from now.