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)
Mansion on the Hill
Bruce Springsteen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Rising above the factories and the fields
Now ever since I 'as a child I can remember
That mansion on the hill
In the day you can see the children playing
On the road that leads to those gates of hardened steel
Steel gates that completely surround,
At night my daddy'd take me and we'd ride
Through the streets of a town so silent and still
Park on a back road along the highway side
Look up at that mansion on the hill
In the summer all the lights would shine
There'd be music playing, people laughing all the time
Me and my sister we'd hide out in the tall corn fields
Sit and listen to the mansion on the hill
Tonight down here in Linden Town
I watch the cars rushing by, home from the mill
There's a beautiful full moon rising
Above the mansion on the hill
The song "Mansion on the Hill" by Bruce Springsteen tells the story of a young boy growing up in a small town and being fascinated by a mansion that he sees on the outskirts of town. The mansion is elevated above the factories and fields and can be seen from afar. The walls that surround it are made of steel, and the gates are always closed, creating an atmosphere of mystery and inaccessibility.
As a child, the singer would watch the mansion from afar during the day and visit late at night with his father. In the summertime, there would be parties and music blaring from the mansion that he and his sister would listen to, hidden in the cornfields.
As an adult, the singer finds himself in Linden Town, reminiscing about his childhood memories. Despite everything that has changed, the mansion still remains, rising above the factories and fields, reminding him of a past that he can never fully recapture.
The song is about nostalgia and the feeling of yearning for something that is no longer there. The mansion symbolizes the unattainable, something that is beyond the reach of ordinary people. It also represents the idea of success and wealth, something that many people aspire to achieve but can never fully grasp.
Line by Line Meaning
There's a place out on the edge of town, sir
The song starts with describing a place outside the town where something special exists
Rising above the factories and the fields
The special place can be seen above the factories and fields and stands out from the mundane surroundings
Now ever since I 'as a child I can remember
The singer has been aware of this place since his childhood and has grown up with its presence in the backdrop of his life
That mansion on the hill
The special place is a mansion, located on a hill that can be seen across the town
In the day you can see the children playing
The mansion is shielded by steel gates which lead to a road where children play during the day
On the road that leads to those gates of hardened steel
The road to the mansion is made of steel and is carved in such a way that it leads to the gates by following a specific route
Steel gates that completely surround,
The gates surrounding the mansion are made of steel and are impenetrable
The mansion on the hill
The mansion is located on a hilltop and is visible from all the surrounding areas
At night my daddy'd take me and we'd ride
The singer recollects fond memories of his father taking him for rides in the night, often towards the mansion on the hill
Through the streets of a town so silent and still
The streets in the town are empty and quiet during the night as people retire to their homes
Park on a back road along the highway side
The singer and his father would park their vehicle on the back road adjacent to the highway
Look up at that mansion on the hill
Once parked, they would gaze up at the mansion on the hill and take in its grandeur
In the summer all the lights would shine
During summer, the mansion lights up in decorative lights and appears grander than ever before
There'd be music playing, people laughing all the time
The mansion would be bustling with people, music and laughter could be heard from afar
Me and my sister we'd hide out in the tall corn fields
The singer and his sister would hide themselves in the corn fields and listen to the sounds emanating from the mansion
Sit and listen to the mansion on the hill
The mansion had an aura and presence that they would listen to and be absorbed in
Tonight down here in Linden Town
The artist is speaking about the present, where he is situated in Linden Town
I watch the cars rushing by, home from the mill
Narrator is observing people returning from work at the mill, with cars rushing by him
There's a beautiful full moon rising
The scene around the singer is highlighted by the rising of a picturesque full moon
Above the mansion on the hill
The full moon is rising above and complementing the beauty of the mansion on the hill
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind