The singer Bruce Springsteen called “the king of romantic apocalypse”
Romanticism is a word that naturally springs to mind when thinking about the mystical work of Bruce Springsteen. His brand of heartland rock deals with complicated topics to navigate, such as societal inequality or the treatment of veterans following their efforts in the Vietnam War. However, Springsteen never forgets to sprinkle hope and romance into his work.
However, as much as romance does run through the veins of Springsteen’s songwriting, there’s always an element of apocalyptic danger which lingers over his creations. An example of this scenario is ‘Atlantic City’, which appeared on his legendary Nebraska album from 1982. In the lyrics, ‘The Boss’ depicts Atlantic City as a place to make dreams a reality, but only if danger is wisely circumvented.
The powerful track evokes an anxiety-filled fear in listeners as Springsteen chronicles the journey of a couple fleeing to start a new life due to the Mafia. However, even though all hope seems lost, their love survives and offers a grain of optimism.
On the romantic nature of his songwriting, Springsteen said of Born To Run to Rolling Stone: “Even then, I filled the romanticism with darkness. It was a post-Vietnam record, and you can hear, once again, the uneasiness and the fear and the concern about the future. The classic line of ‘Thunder Road,’ which I wrote at twenty-four, was ‘We’re not that young anymore.’ That came right out of the last years of the war. Nobody felt that young anymore.”
Elsewhere on ‘Thunder Road’, Springsteen name-checks Roy Orbison and sings, “Roy Orbison singing for the lonely”. He is one of his ultimate musical heroes. During an interview with Spin, the New Jersey rocker said of the late singer: “Roy Orbison is the king of romantic apocalypse. What’s the song title? ‘It’s Over.’ Doesn’t get more apocalyptic than that. I think if the end of days is present in your music, however it got in there, you’re involved in a spiritual world.”
Springsteen also had the honour of inducting Orbison into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. In his speech, he noted: “Some rock and roll reinforces friendship and community. But for me, Roy’s ballads were always best when you were alone and in the dark.”
“Roy scrapped the idea that you needed verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus to have a hit. His arrangements were complex and operatic, they had rhythm and movement and they addressed the underside of pop romance. They were scary. His voice was unearthly,” Springsteen added.
While their respective brands of music aren’t cut from the same cloth, they both managed to tackle similar themes that intertwine romance with the apocalypse and strike the same chords with listeners despite their different execution methods.
