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 Hometown
Bruce Springsteen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And running with a dime in my hand
To the bus stop to pick
Up a paper for my old man
I'd sit on his lap in that big old Buick
And steer as we drove through town
He'd tousle my hair
And say, "Son, take a good look around"
This is your hometown
This is your hometown
This is your hometown"
In '65 tension was running high
At my high school
There was a lot of fights
Between the black and white
There was nothing you could do
Two cars at a light on a Saturday night
In the back seat there was a gun
Words were passed in a shotgun blast
Troubled times had come
To my hometown
To my hometown
To my hometown
To my hometown
Now Main Street's whitewashed windows
And vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody
Wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill
Across the railroad tracks
Foreman says, "These jobs are going, boys
And they ain't coming back
To your hometown
To your hometown
To your hometown
To your hometown"
Last night me and Kate we laid in bed
Talking about getting out
Packing up our bags, maybe heading south
I'm thirty-five, we got a boy of our own now
Last night I sat him up behind the wheel
And said, "Son, take a good look around
This is your hometown"
Bruce Springsteen's "My Hometown" is a nostalgic, introspective song that looks back on the singer's boyhood in Freehold, New Jersey, as well as reflecting on the broader state of the town and the nation. The first stanza serves to establish the singer's personal relationship to the town, as he recalls running errands for his father and riding in his Buick. The images of father and son together in the car are deeply symbolic, representing a relationship between two generations and their shared love for the town.
However, the idyllic picture is soon shattered when Springsteen's narrator reflects on the racial tensions that were simmering in the town in the mid-1960s. This was a time of great upheaval in America, as civil rights demonstrations and riots were spreading across the country. Springsteen imbues these events with a sense of personal significance, evoking the sense of helplessness that he felt as a young boy witnessing the conflict from the sidelines.
The final stanza represents a culmination of this nostalgia and reflection, where Springsteen's narrator reflects on his own adult life and aspirations. He talks about laying in bed with his partner Kate and dreaming of leaving the town, seeking a better life for himself and his family. However, the song takes on a more melancholic tone as he realizes that his hometown will always be a part of him, and that he must pass these values and traditions on to his own son.
Line by Line Meaning
I was eight years old
The singer is recalling a specific moment from their childhood
And running with a dime in my hand
The singer was on their way to buy a newspaper for their father
To the bus stop to pick
The singer was going to the bus stop to catch a bus
Up a paper for my old man
The newspaper was for the artist's father
I'd sit on his lap in that big old Buick
The artist and their father would travel in a large old car together
And steer as we drove through town
The singer would pretend to drive the car with their father's help
He'd tousle my hair
The father would playfully ruffle the singer's hair
And say, "son, take a good look around"
The father was encouraging the artist to appreciate their surroundings
This is your hometown
The father was indicating that the town was special to the artist
In '65 tension was running high
The artist is recalling a year when there was a lot of tension in their town
At my high school
The tensions were particularly noticeable at the singer's high school
There was a lot of fights
There were frequent physical altercations
Between the black and white
The altercations often occurred between people of different races
There was nothing you could do
The singer and others felt powerless to stop the violence
Two cars at a light on a Saturday night
The singer is recalling a specific incident involving two cars at a traffic light
In the back seat there was a gun
One of the cars contained a gun in the back seat
Words were passed in a shotgun blast
One of the people in the cars fired the gun, causing more violence
Troubled times had come
The singer saw this violence as a sign of difficult times
Now Main Street's whitewashed windows
The singer is describing how the town looks now
And vacant stores
Many of the stores in town are now empty
Seems like there ain't nobody
Few people seem to want to come to this town
Wants to come down here no more
People don't want to visit or live in the town anymore
They're closing down the textile mill
A major local business is closing down
Across the railroad tracks
The business is located across from the railroad tracks
Foreman says, "these jobs are going, boys
The managers of the business are laying off workers
And they ain't coming back
The singer realizes that the jobs and the town's prosperity are gone for good
Last night me and Kate we laid in bed
The singer is recalling a conversation they had with their partner
Talking about getting out
The artist and their partner discussed leaving the town
Packing up our bags, maybe heading south
The artist and their partner considered moving to another part of the country
I'm thirty-five, we got a boy of our own now
The singer is older now and has a child of their own
Last night I sat him up behind the wheel
The singer is describing a moment when they sat their child in a car
And said, "son, take a good look around
The artist is telling their child to appreciate the town they live in
This is your hometown"
The artist is trying to pass on an appreciation for their hometown to their child
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Bruce Springsteen
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind