The Bruce Springsteen song about the idea he loathed more than any other
If you were to peruse through Bruce Springsteen’s discography, painfully looking up different lyrics and instrumental inspiration, you would quickly realise that there are very few topics out there The Boss hasn’t written about. From a young age, he became aware of the power that music could have and how it could be used as a means to open people’s eyes to some stories that they might otherwise be unaware of.
Springsteen was first made aware of the power of lyrics in music because of Bob Dylan. Like many people, he heard Dylan’s songs and felt like they uncovered something within him that he wasn’t previously aware was there. He was shown a version of his country, of the world, that was more honest than anything he had seen before, and therefore, he became infatuated with trying to do the same thing for others.
“I want people to get the same experience from listening to one of my records as I had when I listened to Highway 61 Revisited,” he said, “The idea that something was revealed to them that was fundamentally true and essential and gave you a view of your world, your country, your town, your neighbours, your family.”
This mindset meant that Springsteen was writing about politics and nostalgia in some way for a lot of his early career. He rarely touched upon love songs, but this came later in his career when he did fall in love. Paul McCartney most notably touched upon this change in Springsteen over the years as his affinity towards the love song saw a very real shift.
“I remember Bruce Springsteen coming up to me at one of those Rock & Roll Hall of Fame awards and saying, ‘Hey man, you know that song of yours, ‘Silly Love Songs?’ When it came out, I thought it was a bit soppy,’ or whatever the word he used was,” recalled McCartney, “He said, ‘I didn’t get it, but I really get it now, man.’ And it’s something that happens. He’s fallen in love, he’s had kids, and he’s more able to accept that thought, which bothered a lot of people at the time.”
While writing about all of these different topics, Springsteen has had to explore various aspects of life that he isn’t a fan of. A song that perfectly reflects this is 2007’s ‘Magic’, in which Springsteen discusses the idea that people can take fantasy and make it reality merely through the power of suggestion. While this hatred of a bizarre notion is likely rooted in politics, it also has a place in other aspects of everyday life.
“The song ‘Magic’ is about living in a time when anything that is true can be made to seem like a lie and anything that is a lie can be made to seem true. There are people that have taken that as their credo,” said Springsteen, “The classic quote was from one of the Bushies in The New York Times: ‘We make our own reality. You guys report it, we make it’. I may loathe that statement – the unbelievable stupidity and arrogance of it – more than I loathe ‘Bring it on’ and ‘Mission accomplished’. That song, it’s all about illusion. That’s the heart of my record right there.”
