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)
Dollhouse
Bruce Springsteen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You set the rules in your little world
But girls grow up and throw their toys away
You're a big girl now but you still wanna play
(Girl we're living)
You dress them up the way you want to
(Girl we're living)
You make them do just what you want them to
Once I thought we had a love that was true
But I'm just another doll in your dollhouse to you
We're living in a dollhouse
We're living in a dollhouse
Girl we're living in a dollhouse
You may feel safe and sound
But your dollhouse, girl, is falling down
It's all been neatly arranged in your mind
Every detail fits your own design
Every room is perfectly in place
But I can see the sadness, baby, on your face
You had a plan and darling like a child
You thought it's down to fashion, down to style
But your little dreamhouse is runnin' wild
Before your very eyes we're shrinking down to size
We're living in a dollhouse
We're living in a dollhouse
Girl we're living in a dollhouse
You may feel safe and sound
But your dollhouse, girl, is falling down
Everything's as you dreamed it would be
But there's something wrong that you can't see
Room by room you keep looking for some little flaw
A crack somewhere in your dollhouse wall
Something, girl, that will explain away
The hurt you feel, darling, when we play
Your little dolls they got grip on you
Until you're just another doll in your dollhouse too
We're living in a dollhouse
Girl, we're living in a dollhouse
Oh we're living in a dollhouse
We may feel safe and sound
But our dollhouse, girl, is falling down
Oh we're living in a dollhouse
Girl, we're living in a dollhouse
Yeah we're living in a dollhouse
In "Dollhouse," Bruce Springsteen is addressing the idea of expectations in relationships. The song opens by discussing the ways in which a woman "sets the rules in her little world" as a child playing with dolls. Even as an adult, she still wants to play and manipulate those around her. As the song progresses, Springsteen describes the "dollhouse" in which the woman and their partner are living, a place that has been "neatly arranged" in her mind. But despite the perfect façade, something is wrong; he can "see the sadness, baby, on your face." The woman is searching for something that will explain her emotional turmoil, but inherently, the unnatural and inauthentic nature of their dynamic is causing things to fall apart. Springsteen observes that "Your little dolls they got a grip on you / Until you're just another doll in your dollhouse too."
Line by Line Meaning
Well ever since you were a little girl
From a young age, you have always been the one making the rules in your own world.
You set the rules in your little world
You have always been in control of your personal life and surroundings.
But girls grow up and throw their toys away
However, as you grew older, you started to let go of the things in your life that no longer served a purpose.
You're a big girl now but you still wanna play
Even though you have matured, you still hold onto the childish desire to have control over objects.
You dress them up the way you want to
You have complete control over how everything in your life looks and operates.
You make them do just what you want them to
You can manipulate everything around you to fit your desires.
Once I thought we had a love that was true
I believed we had an authentic connection and relationship.
But I'm just another doll in your dollhouse to you
However, I have come to realize that I am just another object in your life that you control and manipulate.
We're living in a dollhouse
Our lives are structured in a way that feels unnatural and contrived, similar to a dollhouse.
You may feel safe and sound
Although you may feel as though you are in control, you are actually trapped in a restrictive environment.
But your dollhouse, girl, is falling down
The life you have created for yourself is beginning to crumble around you, and you can no longer maintain perfect control.
Every detail fits your own design
Every aspect and detail of your life is meticulously placed according to your desires.
Every room is perfectly in place
Every aspect of your life operates seamlessly and smoothly, with no flaws or issues.
But I can see the sadness, baby, on your face
Despite your apparent control, you are still unhappy and unfulfilled.
You had a plan and darling like a child
You had a clear vision of how you wanted your life to look, but it may have been unrealistic and childish.
You thought it's down to fashion, down to style
You believed that you could design your life like you would design an outfit, purely based on aesthetics and appearances.
Before your very eyes we're shrinking down to size
However, as your life falls apart, you are beginning to realize the true scale of your problems and responsibilities.
Everything's as you dreamed it would be
You believed that everything was perfect and that you had everything under control.
But there's something wrong that you can't see
Despite everything appearing to be perfect, there is something deeply wrong and unfulfilling about your life.
Room by room you keep looking for some little flaw
You obsessively search through your life in an attempt to find any imperfection or flaw that may be causing your unhappiness.
A crack somewhere in your dollhouse wall
You hope to find a simple issue or problem that you can fix in order to restore your sense of control and happiness.
Your little dolls they got grip on you
The objects and aspects of your life that you have control over have become a prison that you cannot escape from.
Until you're just another doll in your dollhouse too
Even you, the one who controls and manipulates everything, are not exempt from becoming trapped in your own life.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
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