Classic album: Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

“Thunder Road is an invitation” Bruce Springsteen tells us in Wings for Wheels, his documentary about Born to Run. The album plays out as a long summer night much in the spirit of American Graffiti or Harold & Kumar go to White Castle. Across the city Bad Scooter is searching for his groove and an unnamed character has a meeting with a man on the other side of town, several characters are trying to get their girls and leave town. All this is summed up in 'Jungleland', the album’s closing track, the epic tale of a town exploding into the future somewhere in Clarence Clemons’ epic sax solo the album reaches its climax after which Springsteen soliloquizes on the fate of the characters, the ones who are caught up in the town never to leave, those who leave never to come back, all the goodbyes and all the I love yous.

Born to Run is an album where everything matters, all the piano parts, the guitar parts, the drum parts, the sax parts, and the lyrics are all essential to setting the mood. Like a Shakespearian storm or a Dickensian name, the characters’ fates are tied to the music and the music is tied to the characters. Writing an album on a piano is bound to affect it differently to writing it on a guitar as had been the case on the previous two albums and the range is used brilliantly as all of the musicians are allowed to push the boundaries of their instruments out further. One of The Boss’ greatest qualities is that he accepts his role as lyricist/vocalist and will allow his band to take solos and melodies while he stands back and plays one chord on the guitar, this was the album that really created the reputations of Clarence Clemons and Roy Bittan and the album that turned Bruce Springsteen from a cult, folksy artist into the future of Rock n Roll.

The 70s were a strange time for music. The Beatles were finished, Bob Dylan had abandoned his audience and The Rolling Stones just released whatever the record label would allow, not so much for the creation of music as for the creation of money. In the UK there was a sense of boredom and apathy towards the generic egocentric glamour of these musical stars and when Bruce Springsteen arrived in London the roof of the Hammersmith came down. Here was this young American in cheap jeans and cut off vests speaking of having to work during the day and dreaming of having enough money to take off with his girl, bored of being stuck in this small town and wanting to leave. These themes echo in the subsequent punk movement and later in London Calling by The Clash as well as providing the blueprint for the entire Stiff label. Born to Run was the cry of a generation abandoned by the aspiration of rock stars to heaven, in many ways it reset the balance.

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