Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American… Read Full Bio ↴Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originator of heartland rock, combining mainstream rock musical styles with narrative songs about working class American life. Nicknamed "the Boss", his career has spanned six decades. Springsteen is known for his poetic, socially conscious lyrics and energetic stage performances, sometimes lasting up to four hours.

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)

The Time That Never Was
Bruce Springsteen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Sometimes I wake up in the morning
And it cuts me like a knife
I come face-to-face with my longing
For another world, another life

And a time that never was
Oh, a time that never was

We drove on, fueled not by the future
But by a past we could never touch
Forced to run head-on collisions
'Til we vanished in the dust

Of a time that never was
The time that never was

So kiss me once more, baby
One more kiss, baby, you must
Don't ever let me forget, girl
A time that never was

A time that never was
The time that never was

Oh, the time that never was
A time that never was

Overall Meaning

"The Time That Never Was" by Bruce Springsteen is a reflective and introspective song that explores the themes of longing and regret for a different life and a different time. The lyrics suggest that the singer often wakes up in the morning feeling a deep sense of dissatisfaction and disappointment with their current reality. The feeling is so strong that it cuts them like a knife. They yearn for something more, a world and a life that they have never experienced.

The phrase "And a time that never was" is repeated throughout the song, emphasizing the singer's longing for an imaginary time that exists only in their dreams and desires. The song suggests that this longing stems from a sense of missed opportunities and unfulfilled potential. The singer feels fueled by a past that they can never reach, constantly running head-on into collisions with reality until they fade away in the dust.

Despite the disappointment and yearning, there is a plea for one more kiss, one more moment of connection and intimacy. This suggests that even though the desired time and life never existed, the singer still wants to hold onto the memories of what could have been. They want to be reminded of the time that never was, as if it offers some form of solace or comfort.

Overall, "The Time That Never Was" showcases Springsteen's ability to tap into deep emotions and evoke a sense of melancholy. The song explores the universal feeling of longing for something different and the longing for a time and life that never actually existed.

Line by Line Meaning

Sometimes I wake up in the morning
Occasionally, when I rise from slumber

And it cuts me like a knife
And it deeply wounds me

I come face-to-face with my longing
I confront my strong desire

For another world, another life
For a different existence, a separate reality

And a time that never was
And a period that never actually occurred

Oh, a time that never was
Oh, a period that never truly existed

We drove on, fueled not by the future
We continued, motivated not by what lies ahead

But by a past we could never touch
But by a history we could never physically grasp

Forced to run head-on collisions
Compelled to face direct conflicts

'Til we vanished in the dust
Until we disappeared in the haze

Of a time that never was
Of a period that never came to be