The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen

by Rob Kirkpatrick

Bruce Springsteen's career has been covered many times over, yet many of the complexities and apparent contradictions of his music remain unresolved. Rob Kirkpatrick provides a comprehensive and coherent look at the work of this thoroughly complex and persistently captivating artist. After a brief biographical treatment, Kirkpatrick considers all of Springsteen's significant albums in chronological order. These include Born to Run, which was voted the most popular album of all time in a recently published Zagat survey; Born in the U.S.A., which sold more than 20 million copies; and The Rising, regarded by many as the most poignant artistic reaction to 9/11. In addition to a probing musical analysis, the book offers a guide to Springsteen's lyrical themes and motifs, allowing readers insight into the complicated nature of the artist's underlying concerns, influences, and ideas. Rounding out the volume is a consideration of The Boss's legacy as a songwriter and musician, as well as appendices including a bibliography and a complete discography.

The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen provides a comprehensive and coherent look at the work of a thoroughly complex and persistently captivating artist. Springsteen enjoys a popularity that has transcended generations. His 1975 album Born to Run was voted the most popular album of all time in a recently published Zagat survey; his 1984 album Born in the U.S.A. spawned seven Top Ten singles while selling more than 20 million copies; and his 2002 album The Rising was regarded by many critics as the most poignant artistic reaction to 9/11. Springsteen, now in his 50s, has evolved from an over-hyped version of the next Bob Dylan, to the future of rock and roll in the mid-1970s, to a pop culture icon in Reagan America, to a 21st-century populist voice. His career has been covered many times over, yet many of the complexities and apparent contradictions of his music remain unresolved. These include his hard-rock influenced musical background; his movement from themes of rebellion and isolation in his early work to those of a more populist complexion later on; and his contribution in the 1980s to a conservative patriotism—despite his albums' close association with the music and ideas of Woody Guthrie.

After a brief biographical treatment, Kirkpatrick considers all of Springsteen's significant albums in chronological order. In addition to this probing musical analysis, he offers a guide to Springsteen's lyrical themes and motifs, allowing readers a coherent insight into the complicated nature of the artist's underlying concerns, influences, and ideas. Rounding out the volume is a consideration of The Boss's legacy as a songwriter and musician, as well as appendices including a bibliography and a complete discography. In sum, The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen provides a comprehensive and coherent look, previously unavailable in a single volume, at the work of a thoroughly complex and persistently captivating artist.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published December 30, 2006

About the author

ROB KIRKPATRICK is the author of 1969: The Year Everything Changed (Skyhorse Publishing), Magic in the Night: The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen (St. Martin’s Griffin) and Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators: The War-Torn History of an All-Star Shortstop (Bison Books/University of Nebraska Press). He also edited The Quotable Sixties, and his creative writing has been published by Aethlon and Slow Trains.

As an editor for more than a decade, he has published such titles as Mark Oliver Everett’s Things the Grandchildren Should Know, John Hemingway’s Strange Tribe: A Family Memoir, G. Franco and Gwen Romagnolis’ Italy, the Romagnoli Way, Linda Cohn’s Cohn-Head: A No-Holds-Barred Account of Breaking Into the Boys’ Club, Phil Pepe’s The Ballad of Billy and George: The Tempestuous Baseball Marriage of Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner, Vincent Cannato’s The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York, Mark K. Updegrove’s Baptism by Fire: Eight Presidents Who Took Office in Times of Crisis, Alex Storozynski’s The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution, Timothy M. Gay’s Tris Speaker: The Rough-and-Tumble Life of a Baseball Legend, John Pahigian’s The Ultimate Minor League Road Trip and 101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out, Sean Lahman’s The Pro Football Historical Abstract, Mickey Bradley and Dan Gordon’s Haunted Baseball: Ghosts, Curses, Legends, & Eerie Events, and The Devil’s Diaries. He also conceived of and published multivolume reference sets including the Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History and the Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures.

Rob received his B.A. from Rutgers University, his M.A. from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and his PhD. from Binghamton University. He is graduate of the Denver Publishing Institute and also spent a summer studying at the FAMU in Prague. He taught writing and literature courses on the college level for four years and currently is a Senior Editor with Thomas Dunne Books. In his “free time,” he enjoys yoga and plays on the Bridgeport Orators Vintage Base Ball team. Rob lives in Rye, New York.

Rob Kirkpatrick is represented by Joy Tutela of the David Black Literary Agency.

Contact Rob at rob@robkirkpatrick.com.

Reviews

[Frank Taranto · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at the music and writing of Bruce Springsteen focusing more on his early years. Made me go back and listen to some of my favorite music again.