The classic Bruce Springsteen song he never played live
It is difficult to think of any other artist with a discography as vast and uncompromising as Bruce Springsteen. From the early days of the E Street Band to the pop rock mastery of Born in the USA to more recent efforts like his covers album Only the Strong Survive, the New Jersey songwriter has worked tirelessly, and the intense quality of his studio work has consistently been reflected in his live shows. Nevertheless, certain fan favourites never seem to make an appearance in his setlists.
Springsteen had grown up a musical obsessive in his hometown of Long Branch, New Jersey, worshipping early rock stars like Elvis Presley and having his mind blown open by The Beatles upon their first visit to the United States in 1964. Before too long, the budding young songwriter was writing his own material and, crucially, visiting live concerts. This adoration of live music led Springsteen to develop a knack for performing himself, and his earliest concerts back in 1972 provided a lot of promise for the future of Springsteen’s live shows.
As anybody who has ever had the pleasure of seeing ‘The Boss’ in concert can attest to, the New Jersey songwriter puts on a hell of a show. Even the few non-believers who remain somehow unconvinced by Springsteen’s celebrated discography cannot help but bow down to the incredible live show created by the musician. Despite this unwavering quality, selecting setlists for the shows is never going to be an easy task for Springsteen.
After all, the performer has created over 20 studio albums throughout his career, not to mention EPs, one-off singles, collaborations, compilations, and all the rest of it. Each one of those releases has its own cult following, and the more obsessive of Springsteen’s fanbase are often desperate to hear the deeper cuts, while casual listeners are happy with renditions of ‘Born to Run’ and other big hits.
Inevitably, there are multiple songs from throughout Springsteen’s career that have never made it to the live stage. While some of these omitted tracks, such as 2020’s ‘One Minute You’re Here’ are victims of their own recency and have yet to be introduced into Springsteen’s live act, others seem to have been forgotten or, in some cases, deliberately left out.
For instance, the songwriter famously refuses to play ‘Born in the USA’ in his home nation, resulting from the continued misinterpretation of the anti-war song as a patriotic anthem. However, the songwriter does play the track outside of the States. Meanwhile, fan favourite songs like ‘Bring On The Night’ have never seen the light of day on either side of the Atlantic Ocean.
Recorded during the sessions for Springsteen’s storming 1980 record The River, ‘Bring On The Night’ came about during a particularly prolific period in the songwriter’s life, which would soon spawn masterpiece albums like Nebraska. However, ‘Bring On The Night’ never made it to the final tracklisting of The River; instead, it found a home on numerous bootleg records and, eventually, the 1996 box set Tracks.
It is easy to see why the song has never made it into the songwriter’s setlist, given that it was not released on a studio album. However, it certainly stands out among the hefty list of songs that Springsteen has never performed live. Perhaps, one day, fans will be treated to a live rendition of the 1979 classic.
