The ultimate collection of Bruce Springsteen’s favourite songs
Bruce Springsteen has been at the top of his game since the 1970s, and the number of artists he has inspired to continue his legacy and write songs in a certain tradition is incredible. ‘The Boss’, as colleagues and fans refer to him, is considered a working-class hero for his incisive commentary on societal issues and a true American icon for his contributions to music, and it’s no wonder he’s celebrated like a god not just in his native New Jersey, but across the globe.
On many occasions, he has paid homage to the area he grew up in, whether through his own material or through an appreciation for other artists emerging from the Garden State. There’s little denying that Springsteen has always been a massively supportive figure to those around him and even those in distant scenes, and whether or not you consider yourself to be a fan of his work, there’s always a mutual respect shown between him and other artists.
While he’s very much New Jersey from birth until death, he’s got a vast knowledge of other curiosities throughout modern music’s history. Despite having been raised on the music of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley during the 1950s, he’s also got a wealth of wisdom to share on country music, soul, hip-hop and rock, and he’s proven this wide-reaching love on many occasions.
Throughout lockdown, when the world felt isolated and looked for something comforting to distract themselves from the confusing state of affairs, Springsteen sent some warmth from his home in New Jersey in the form of over 20 specially curated broadcasts for BBC Radio 2. Picking some of his favourite songs of all time, sometimes sticking to specific themes, it offered a wonderful window into the variety of music that gets blasted in the Springsteen household, with plenty of treasures to be found within each episode.
There are some obvious picks within his score of playlists, with Bob Dylan and The Beatles making several appearances over the course of the series, and there are plenty of songs from his early idols in Sinatra and Presley, but that doesn’t the full extent of his myriad of tastes that he chose to share with the world.
There are nods to legends of soul such as Marvin Gaye and The Drifters, as well as a handful of rarities from lesser-known figures in the genre’s history, which makes sense given the amount of passion that has always been poured into his own musical output. At the same time, the lyrical and often politicised nature of some of his rap and hip-hop picks, such as Public Enemy and 2Pac, is reflected in his own work, and you can completely understand why this diversion in genre is something that he has managed to latch onto in his later years.
His finger remains on the pulse as well, with tracks from newer artists such as Courtney Barnett and Future Islands finding their way onto his playlists, proving that his passion for musical discovery hasn’t waned. Once again, these picks demonstrate a soulful and lyrical flair that mirrors his own artistic predilections, and you begin to gain a broader picture of what still excites him.
Springsteen’s own output will always be treasured by millions, but to get a full picture of the man, it’s well worth diving into the compendium of over 500 songs that were selected as part of his BBC shows – which has a healthy smattering of his songs buried within as well.
