‘Factory’: The song Bruce Springsteen wrote about his father’s work
Bruce Springsteen has written songs about a plethora of subjects across his storied career. The New Jersey native’s oeuvre contains everything from political anthems to personal analyses, and his artistry is more substantial than tracks such as ‘Born to Run’. The candid nature of his work has earned Springsteen the moniker of ‘The Boss’, and since he broke through in the mid-1970s, he has consistently demonstrated that music can be honest and still be of value.
Springsteen’s writing hit new heights on his most recent album, 2020’s Letter to You, a project which saw him take a trip down memory lane in the face of ageing and an ever-changing world. At points, the record saw Springsteen focus on himself more intensely than ever before while still managing to keep the listener on their toes. Friends, family and music itself were the overarching themes, with the argument that Springsteen is one of his generation’s most profound wordsmiths only strengthened.
Naturally, the honesty that Springsteen funnels into his craft is supported by his character outside of music. In interviews, he has discussed a variety of subjects, including mental health and more airy topics, such as why he thinks he became a megastar. One of the weightiest issues Springsteen has approached within his music and interviews has been his upbringing and, in particular, the complicated relationship he had with his father, Douglas.
As Springsteen has discussed at different points, his father had a severe mental illness, which only worsened as he got older, making their relationship strained. Douglas has been the subject of many of Springsteen’s songs, such as ‘Independence Day’, and one of the most candid came in the form of ‘Factory’ from 1978’s Darkness On The Edge Of Town.
In the track, Springsteen doesn’t criticise his father, as he tended to do during this period. Instead, he describes Douglas going to work and supporting his family, something Springsteen gradually came to appreciate, despite their relationship.
‘Factory’ is also one of the clearest examples of why he evolved into the champion of the common man, with it a realistic discussion of the blue-collar work that his dad, and many others, did. He later told Rolling Stone: “When I went to work, I really went to work in my dad’s clothes, and it became a way, I suppose, that I honoured him and my parents’ lives, and a part of my own young life. And then it just became who I was.”
