The musician Bruce Springsteen said is “always writing songs I wish I’d written”
It’s every songwriter’s dream to have a singular voice among their peers. For all of those who take pieces of what you have done for their own personal gain, there’s no way that they will be able to write the exact same songs you can if you’ve worked hard on the craft for so long. While it’s easy to look at any album Bruce Springsteen ever released and see a clear picture, he admitted that everything that he wanted in a songwriter could be found in Steve Earle’s music.
Then again, Springsteen had already carved out Earle’s autobiographical blue-collar melodrama before he had even begun. Looking through albums like Darkness on the Edge of Town, ‘The Boss’ had nailed down his schtick of making tunes that were both indebted to the past but living in the present, always painting vivid pictures of what life was like at ground level on ‘Badlands’ and ‘Racing in the Street’.
But Earle was a different animal when he got hit start in Nashville. He certainly had the mannerisms of a rough-and-tumble rock star, but he knew that his calling was in making tracks that could break people’s hearts. Despite being a part of the country music machine, Earle made it a point to be a thorn in the side of that scene, whether that meant making the most anti-commercial tunes he could or speaking his mind about how much he hated the corporate machine.
In fact, there’s a lot more Tom Petty in Earle than Springsteen a lot of the time. The heartland rock legend had made a point of sticking it to the man whenever he got the chance, and even when the rest of Nashville was making pillowy ballads, albums like Guitar Town cut to the bone the same way that Gram Parsons records used to back in the day.
That’s before even getting to the lyrics. Whereas Springsteen painted with a broad brush to make his characters universal, there’s no doubt Earle lived every minute of his songs, whether that’s living the life of a travelling rock and roller or talking about spending years away from his son and wanting to still be a good father for him.
Their tracks may have been parallel, but ‘The Boss’ knew Earle had something special behind him, telling Variety, “[He is] one of the greatest. I listen to him a lot — he’s always writing songs I wish I’d written.” Then again, a lot of Springsteen’s material is about taking Earle’s heartache and spinning it into something positive.
While there are more than a few sombre moments in Springsteen’s career, he has never been one to get as blunt as Earle could at times. Earle could leave a heart bleeding by his final verses, but ‘The Boss’ never lets his characters be counted out. Even in the face of terrible tragedies like 9/11, Springsteen still tries to paint a sympathetic light on those affected and their ability to persevere through the pain of The Rising.
So, in essence, Springsteen might never be able to write exactly like Earle, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. He can try his best to make heartwrenching tales when he picks up a guitar, but it always comes out earnest, no matter how hard he tries.
