Editing Bruce Springsteen (section)

==Artistry and legacy==
{{quote box|align=right|width=25em|quote=I spent most of my life as a musician measuring the distance between the [[American Dream]] and American reality.|source=—Springsteen at a rally for presidential candidate Barack Obama on November 2, 2008<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hagen |first=Mark |date=January 18, 2009 |title=Meet the new boss |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jan/18/bruce-springsteen-interview |url-status=live |access-date=September 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930145120/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/jan/18/bruce-springsteen-interview |archive-date=September 30, 2013}}</ref>}}

Widely regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time,<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/interactive/lists-100-greatest-songwriters/#bruce-springsteen |url-status=live |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624095503/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-songwriters#bruce-springsteen |archive-date=June 24, 2018 |access-date=March 21, 2021}}</ref> Springsteen has been called a "rock 'n' roll poet" who "[radiates] working-class authenticity".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Zeitz |first=Joshua |date=August 24, 2015 |title=How 'Born to Run' Captured the Decline of the American Dream |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/08/born-to-run-at-40/402137/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704164429/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/08/born-to-run-at-40/402137/ |archive-date=July 4, 2019 |access-date=July 4, 2019 |website=The Atlantic}}</ref> He is a pioneer of [[heartland rock]], a genre combining mainstream rock music with [[working class]] thematic concerns and socially conscious lyrics. According to ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', his work "epitomizes rock's deepest values: desire, the need for freedom and the search to find yourself."<ref name="RS1" /> Often described as cinematic in their scope, Springsteen's lyrics frequently explore highly personal themes such as individual commitment, dissatisfaction and dismay with life in a context of everyday situations.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wurtzel |first=Elizabeth |date=June 22, 2008 |title=Bruce almighty, Elizabeth Wurtzel on Bruce Springsteen's lyrics |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/jun/22/popandrock.culture4 |url-status=live |access-date=September 29, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220050248/http://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/jun/22/popandrock.culture4 |archive-date=December 20, 2013}}</ref> Springsteen's themes include social and political commentary<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Alterman |first=Eric |date=April 11, 2012 |title=Bruce Springsteen's Political Voice |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/bruce-springsteens-political-voice/ |url-status=live |magazine=The Nation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704164556/https://www.thenation.com/article/bruce-springsteens-political-voice/ |archive-date=July 4, 2019 |access-date=July 4, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Powers |first=Ann |date=January 19, 2012 |title=Bruce Springsteen's New Wave Of Social Protest |publisher=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2012/01/19/145454546/we-take-care-of-our-own-springsteens-new-wave-of-social-protest |url-status=live |access-date=July 4, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704164557/https://www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2012/01/19/145454546/we-take-care-of-our-own-springsteens-new-wave-of-social-protest |archive-date=July 4, 2019}}</ref> and are rooted in the struggles faced by his own family of origin.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leopold |first=Todd |title=Bruce Springsteen and the song of the working man |url=https://www.cnn.com/2012/06/18/showbiz/bruce-springsteen-wrecking-ball-working-man/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704164430/https://www.cnn.com/2012/06/18/showbiz/bruce-springsteen-wrecking-ball-working-man/index.html |archive-date=July 4, 2019 |access-date=July 4, 2019 |publisher=CNN}}</ref>

A shift in Springsteen's lyrical approach began with the album ''Darkness on the Edge of Town'',<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Haltom |first1=William |last2=McCann |first2=Michael W. |year=1996 |title=From Badlands to Better Days: Bruce Springsteen Observes Law and Politics |url=https://www.pugetsound.edu/faculty-pages/haltom/bruce-springsteen/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116145204/https://www.pugetsound.edu/faculty-pages/haltom/bruce-springsteen/ |archive-date=January 16, 2021 |access-date=October 15, 2020}}</ref> in which he focused on the emotional struggles of working class life,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Millman |first=Joyce |date=April 16, 2008 |title=A Map of the Future: "Darkness on the Edge of Town" at 30 |url=http://www.brucespringsteenspecialcollection.net/BSSC_Darkness30.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20090608001051/http://www.brucespringsteenspecialcollection.net/BSSC_Darkness30.htm |archive-date=June 8, 2009 |access-date=September 29, 2010 |publisher=brucespringsteenspecialcollection.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Richardson |first=Mark |date=January 6, 2004 |title=Album Review: "Darkness on the Edge of Town" |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/7727-the-essential-bruce-springsteen/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121031601/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/7727-the-essential-bruce-springsteen/ |archive-date=November 21, 2010 |access-date=September 29, 2010 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]}}</ref> alongside more typical rock and roll themes. Reviewing ''Born in the U.S.A.'', ''Rolling Stone'' critic Debby Miller noted that "Springsteen ignored the [[British Invasion]] and embraced instead the legacy of [[Phil Spector]]'s releases, the sort of soul that was coming from [[Atlantic Records]], and especially the garage bands that had anomalous radio hits. He's always chased the utopian feeling of that music".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Miller |first=Debby |date=July 19, 1984 |title=Born in the U.S.A. |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/born-in-the-u-s-a-97901/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=November 14, 2022 |archive-date=December 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201217182945/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/born-in-the-u-s-a-97901/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Bruce Springsteen 20080815.jpg|thumb|Springsteen performing in front of drummer [[Max Weinberg]] on the [[Magic Tour (Bruce Springsteen)|Magic Tour]] at [[Veterans Memorial Arena]] in [[Jacksonville, Florida]] in August 2008]]
[[Jon Pareles]] included Springsteen among the "pantheon" of artists of the [[album era]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pareles |first=Jon |author-link=Jon Pareles |date=January 5, 1997 |title=All That Music, and Nothing to Listen To |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/05/arts/all-that-music-and-nothing-to-listen-to.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited |access-date=March 10, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171227043520/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/05/arts/all-that-music-and-nothing-to-listen-to.html |archive-date=December 27, 2017}}</ref> "Springsteen is the quintessential album-era rock star," writes [[Ann Powers]], who argues that while other acts like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and [[Marvin Gaye]] probably made better individual works, "none [had] used the long-player form itself more powerfully over the arc of a career, not only to establish a world through song, but to inhabit an enduring persona". He used it to lyricize "America's slide from industrial-era swagger into service-economy [[anomie]]". In her mind, Springsteen needed the "track-by-track architecture of albums to flesh out characters, relate each to the other, extend metaphors and build a palpable, detail-strewn landscape through which they could travel". He simultaneously grew musically "both with his stalwart E Street Band (a metaphor itself for the family connections and community spirit his songs celebrate or lament) and in more minimalist projects."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Powers |first=Ann |date=January 26, 2009 |title=CD: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jan-26-et-springsteen26-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=March 2, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125104123/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jan-26-et-springsteen26-story.html |archive-date=January 25, 2021}}</ref>

Springsteen and the E Street Band have frequently appeared in lists ranking the best live acts of all time.<ref name="BaltinLive">{{cite web |last=Baltin |first=Steve |title=Springsteen, Prince, Bowie, And The Best Live Acts Of The Last 50 Years |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebaltin/2024/05/26/springsteen-prince-bowie-and-the-best-live-acts-of-the-last-50-years/ |website=[[Forbes]] |access-date=July 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527003926/https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebaltin/2024/05/26/springsteen-prince-bowie-and-the-best-live-acts-of-the-last-50-years/?sh=45d0a1f602c3 |archive-date=May 27, 2024 |date=May 26, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Rolling Stone Readers Pick the Top Ten Live Acts of All Time |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/rolling-stone-readers-pick-the-top-ten-live-acts-of-all-time-11789/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=July 4, 2024 |date=March 9, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Barton |first1=Laura |title=The 30 bands and artists to see live before you die … or they split up |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jun/24/30-musical-acts-to-see-before-you-die |website=The Guardian |access-date=July 4, 2024 |date=June 24, 2023}}</ref> In ''[[Forbes]]'', Steve Baltin wrote: "There has never been a live experience in music that captures the feeling of liberation and optimism rock and roll is supposed to bring you more than a Springsteen and the E Street Band show."<ref name="BaltinLive" /> In January 2023, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' named Springsteen the 77th-greatest singer of all time.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=January 1, 2023|title=The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-singers-all-time-1234642307/bruce-springsteen-46-1234643079/|access-date=July 3, 2023|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US|archive-date=July 3, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230703220612/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-singers-all-time-1234642307/bruce-springsteen-46-1234643079/|url-status=live}}</ref> In April 2023, the governor of New Jersey issued a proclamation announcing September 23 "Bruce Springsteen Day".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bruce Springsteen gets state day in NJ, misses American Music Honors event due to COVID |url=https://www.app.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/04/16/bruce-springsteen-covid-patti-scialfa-american-music-honors-proclamation/70116070007/ |access-date=April 16, 2023 |website=Asbury Park Press |language=en-US |archive-date=March 5, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240305105419/https://www.app.com/story/entertainment/music/2023/04/16/bruce-springsteen-covid-patti-scialfa-american-music-honors-proclamation/70116070007/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Springsteen's songs have been the subject of various scholarly articles analyzing his music and lyrics.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bohn |first=Katie |title=Authenticity in the USA: How Springsteen's music stayed true through the years |work=[[Penn State University]] |date=August 16, 2021 |url=https://www.psu.edu/news/research/story/authenticity-usa-how-springsteens-music-stayed-true-through-years/ |access-date=June 3, 2024}}</ref> The Bruce Springsteen Special Collection houses academic journals and papers on Springsteen published since the 1980s. Springsteen himself said in 2001: "The Collection has almost 1,000 books and magazines on myself and the band–more stuff than every place except my mother's basement!"<ref>{{cite web |title=Academic Journals and Papers |url=https://brucespringsteenspecialcollection.monmouth.edu/academic-journals-and-papers/#top |website=The Bruce Springsteen Special Collection |access-date=June 2, 2024}}</ref>

In 2003, ''[[Rolling Stone]]''{{'}}s [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|500 Greatest Albums of All Time]] list included ''[[Born to Run]]'' (18),<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Born to Run ranked no. 18 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/born-to-run-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902071320/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/born-to-run-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |archive-date=September 2, 2011 |access-date=May 1, 2022}}</ref> ''[[Born in the U.S.A.]]'' (85),<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Born in the U.S.A. ranked no. 85 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/born-in-the-u-s-a-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902072547/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/born-in-the-u-s-a-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |archive-date=September 2, 2011 |access-date=May 1, 2022}}</ref> ''[[The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle]]'' (132),<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=E Street Shuffle ranked no. 132 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/the-wild-the-innocent-and-the-e-street-shuffle-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902071659/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/the-wild-the-innocent-and-the-e-street-shuffle-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |archive-date=September 2, 2011 |access-date=May 1, 2022}}</ref> ''[[Darkness on the Edge of Town]]'' (151),<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Edge of Town ranked no. 151 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/darkness-on-the-edge-of-town-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902064908/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/darkness-on-the-edge-of-town-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |archive-date=September 2, 2011 |access-date=May 1, 2022}}</ref> ''[[Nebraska (album)|Nebraska]]'' (224),<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Nebraska ranked no. 224 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/nebraska-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902071447/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/nebraska-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |archive-date=September 2, 2011 |access-date=May 1, 2022}}</ref> ''[[The River (Bruce Springsteen album)|The River]]'' (250),<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=The River ranked no. 250 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/the-river-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902020541/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/the-river-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |archive-date=September 2, 2011 |access-date=May 1, 2022}}</ref> ''[[Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.]]'' (379),<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Greetings ranked no. 379 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/greetings-from-asbury-park-n-j-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902124111/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/greetings-from-asbury-park-n-j-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |archive-date=September 2, 2011 |access-date=May 1, 2022}}</ref> and ''[[Tunnel of Love (album)|Tunnel of Love]]'' (475).<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Tunnel of Love ranked no. 475 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/tunnel-of-love-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902125139/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/tunnel-of-love-bruce-springsteen-19691231 |archive-date=September 2, 2011 |access-date=May 1, 2022}}</ref> In 2004, on their [[500 Greatest Songs of All Time]] list, ''Rolling Stone'' included "[[Born to Run (song)|Born to Run]]" (21), "[[Thunder Road (song)|Thunder Road]]" (86),<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Rolling Stone: 500 Greatest Songs of All Time 2004 1–100 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619072533/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page |archive-date=June 19, 2008 |access-date=May 1, 2022}}</ref> and "[[Born in the U.S.A. (song)|Born in the U.S.A.]]" (275).<ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Rolling Stone: 500 Greatest Songs of All Time 2004 201–300 |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/3 |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619105433/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/500songs/page/3 |archive-date=June 19, 2008 |access-date=May 1, 2022}}</ref> In 2010, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked Springsteen 23rd on its list of the "[[Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time|100 Greatest Artists of All Time]]", describing him as "the embodiment of rock and roll".<ref name="RS1">{{Cite magazine |date=December 3, 2010 |title=Best Musicians, Artists of All Time According to Rolling Stone – Bruce Springsteen |first1=Jackson |last1=Browne |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-artists-147446/bruce-springsteen-10-92264/ |url-status=live |magazine=Rolling Stone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308225430/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-artists-147446/bruce-springsteen-10-92264/ |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |access-date=March 20, 2021}}</ref>