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)
Hey Blue Eyes
Bruce Springsteen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Double speak and sedition then somebody dies
From the hills the smell of lilacs then the repeat of guns
When she closes the window and draws the blinds
Her first touch sucks the air from my lungs
Hey Blue Eyes, what you doing tonight
Hey Blue Eyes, it's alright
She says, "In this house we've abandoned history
In this house there are no laws
Just the false taste of paradise and then the fall
In this house the guilty go unpunished and blood and silence prevail
Here the dead remain nameless, the nameless remain jailed"
Hey Blue Eyes, what you doing tonight
Hey Blue Eyes, it's alright
In this house there's just the dust of bones, the basement's filled with liars
In this house our sons and daughters are spilled like wine
So come close my pretty darling and let me feel your disease
Tonight I'll have you naked and crawling at the end of my leash
Hey Blue Eyes, what you doing tonight
Hey Blue Eyes, it's alright
She says, "In this house it's so easy to set a world on fire
All you need is the need and the money and a soul full of reckless desire
Upstairs the landlord is dining here with his criminal friends
Don't worry, they'll have the bags packed and be long gone
Before the real fucking begins"
Hey Blue Eyes, yeah, what you doing tonight
Hey Blue Eyes, it's alright
Hey Blue Eyes, what you doing tonight
Hey Blue Eyes, it's alright
The song Hey Blue Eyes by Bruce Springsteen tells a chilling story about a woman living in a house where corruption, violence, and disregard for the law pervade. The first stanza depicts a situation where a committee is meeting to promote illegal activities that lead to death. The second stanza discusses the woman's thoughts about how history has been forgotten and how no laws apply in the house. It's just about false happiness, which ultimately ends with death. The woman seems to be aware of the corruption and violence but can't do anything about it. The phrase "Here the dead remain nameless, the nameless remain jailed" highlights the fact that justice is not served, and there is no hope for the oppressed.
The third stanza portrays a grim picture of the family's circumstances, where the basement is filled with liars, and the children are sacrificed like wine. The woman seems resigned to her fate and ready to indulge in depravity to feel something again. The closing lines of the song depict the landlord entertaining his criminal friends in the house while the real "fucking" starts somewhere else.
Overall, Hey Blue Eyes is a bleak portrayal of a society where corruption reigns supreme, and the innocent pay the price.
Line by Line Meaning
They're holding a committee of treason and lies
A group is conspiring with deceitful and traitorous intentions
Double speak and sedition then somebody dies
The use of ambiguous language and discontentment leads to violence
From the hills the smell of lilacs then the repeat of guns
The idyllic countryside is tainted by the sounds of war and aggression
When she closes the window and draws the blinds
The person is shutting out the harsh realities of the outside world
Her first touch sucks the air from my lungs
The person feels breathless and overwhelmed by the intensity of their emotions
Hey Blue Eyes, what you doing tonight
A question asking for the intended plans of this person
Hey Blue Eyes, it's alright
A reassurance that everything is going to be okay
She says, "In this house we've abandoned history
The person shares that they have neglected the lessons of the past
In this house there are no laws
The person suggests that they live outside the norms of societal rules
Just the false taste of paradise and then the fall
An illusory sense of happiness that is fleeting and followed by tragedy
In this house the guilty go unpunished and blood and silence prevail
A place where wrongdoers escape consequences and violence is the norm
Here the dead remain nameless, the nameless remain jailed"
A place where victims have no recognition and the oppressed suffer in anonymity
In this house there's just the dust of bones, the basement's filled with liars
The physical environment is as decayed and hopeless as the moral character of those living in it
In this house our sons and daughters are spilled like wine
The preciousness of children is compared to something that can be carelessly discarded
So come close my pretty darling and let me feel your disease
The singer wants to experience the flaws and imperfections of their lover
Tonight I'll have you naked and crawling at the end of my leash
The person has a desire for control and dominance in their relationship
She says, "In this house it's so easy to set a world on fire
The person admits that their way of life could spark chaos and destruction
All you need is the need and the money and a soul full of reckless desire
The ingredients for chaos and destruction are having the drive, resources, and willingness to do harm
Upstairs the landlord is dining here with his criminal friends
A person in power is associated with others who engage in unethical or illegal activity
Don't worry, they'll have the bags packed and be long gone
The wrongdoers will escape before they can be held accountable for their actions
Before the real fucking begins"
A crass way of saying that the true nature of their lifestyle has not yet been revealed
Hey Blue Eyes, yeah, what you doing tonight
A repeated question asking for the intended plans of this person
Hey Blue Eyes, it's alright
A repeated reassurance that everything is going to be okay
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Bruce Springsteen
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind