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)
My Father's House
Bruce Springsteen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Out where the pines grow wild and tall
I was trying to make it home through the forest
Before the darkness falls
I heard the wind rustling through the trees
And ghostly voices rose from the fields
I ran with my heart pounding down that broken path
I broke through the trees and there in the night
My father's house stood shining hard and bright
The branches and brambles tore my clothes and scratched my arms
But I ran 'til I fell shaking in his arms
I awoke and I imagined, the hard things that pulled us apart
Will never again, sir, tear us from each other's hearts
I got dressed and to that house, I did ride
From out on the road I could see its windows shining in light
I walked up the steps and stood on the porch
A woman I didn't recognize came and spoke to me through a chained door
I told her my story and who I'd come for
She said "I'm sorry son but no one by that name lives here anymore"
My father's house shines hard and bright
It stands like a beacon calling me in the night
Calling and calling, so cold and alone
Shining 'cross this dark highway where our sins lie unatoned
The song starts off with the singer having a dream where he was a child trying to make his way home before dark. He hears ghostly sounds and feels like he’s being chased by the devil. Eventually, he reaches his father's house despite having his clothes torn and arms scratched by branches and brambles. The song shows the important bond and relationship with the father but also the guilt of not having been able to reconnect with him. The lyrics reflect how hard it is to make peace with a painful past and how time and distance can make it difficult to mend those fractures. The dream and the reality are diametrically opposite; in the dream, the father's house shines hard and bright, but in reality, it is just a "beacon calling...so cold and alone."
The song explores the theme of the father-son relationship, which is a persistent one in Springsteen's music. It focuses on how mistakes and misunderstandings can strain relationships, and how difficult it can be to repair those relationships. The song can be seen as autobiographical, with Springsteen using his own personal experiences to explore this theme. He uses powerful imagery of his dreams to convey his emotions of fear, guilt, and longing. The song's meaning is open to interpretation, but it reflects on the relationship between a father and son that Springsteen never quite managed to reconcile.
Line by Line Meaning
Last night I dreamed that I was a child
I had a dream of my childhood
Out where the pines grow wild and tall
It was in a forest where tall pine trees grew
I was trying to make it home through the forest
I attempted to reach my home passing through the woods
Before the darkness falls
I tried to get there before it turned dark
I heard the wind rustling through the trees
The sound of wind blowing through the trees was audible to me
And ghostly voices rose from the fields
Spooky voices emerged from the fields
I ran with my heart pounding down that broken path
I was sprinting on a broken path with my heart pounding
With the devil snapping at my heels
I felt like I was being chased by the devil
I broke through the trees and there in the night
I broke through the trees and saw something shining in the dark
My father's house stood shining hard and bright
It was my father's house shining with bright lights
The branches and brambles tore my clothes and scratched my arms
The branches and thorns of the plants in my way damaged my clothes and left scratch marks on my arms
But I ran 'til I fell shaking in his arms
I continued running till I reached my father and fell shaking in his arms
I awoke and I imagined, the hard things that pulled us apart
I woke up and imagined the difficulties that separated us
Will never again, sir, tear us from each other's hearts
The troubles will not longer come between us and our love
I got dressed and to that house, I did ride
I got ready and rode back to my father's house
From out on the road I could see its windows shining in light
As I was passing by, I could see the windows glittering with light
I walked up the steps and stood on the porch
I reached the porch and climbed up the stairs
A woman I didn't recognize came and spoke to me through a chained door
An unknown woman spoke to me through the chained door
I told her my story and who I'd come for
I shared my story and told her the person I was there to see
She said "I'm sorry son but no one by that name lives here anymore"
She said that the person I was looking for doesn't live there anymore
My father's house shines hard and bright
My father's house is brightly illuminated
It stands like a beacon calling me in the night
It is like a shining beacon that is attracting me
Calling and calling, so cold and alone
It keeps calling me constantly even though it's cold and lonely there
Shining 'cross this dark highway where our sins lie unatoned
It is shining across this dark road where our unappreciated mistakes are hidden
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Bruce Springsteen
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind