Bruce Springsteen

Released: November 21, 1995

Songwriter: Bruce Springsteen

Producer: Chuck Plotkin Bruce Springsteen

[Verse 1]
He rode the rails since the Great Depression
Fifty years out on the skids
He said, "You don't cross nobody
You'll be all right out here, kid"

[Verse 2]
Left my family in Pennsylvania
Searching for work, I hit the road
I met Frank in East Texas
In a freight yard blown through with snow

[Verse 3]
From New Mexico to Colorado
California to the sea
Frank, he showed me the ropes, sir
Just till I could get back on my feet

[Verse 4]
I hoed sugar beets outside of Firebaugh
I picked the peaches from the Marysville trees
They bunked us in a barn just like animals
Me and a hundred others just like me

[Verse 5]
We split up come the springtime
I never seen Frank again
Except one rainy night, he blew by me on a grainer
Shouted my name and disappeared in the rain and wind

[Verse 6]
They found him shot dead outside of Stockton
His body lying on a muddy hill
Nothing taken, nothing stolen
Somebody killing just to kill

[Verse 7]
Late that summer, I was rolling through the plains of Texas
A vision passed before my eyes
A small house sitting track-side
With the glow of the savior's beautiful light

[Verse 8]
A woman stood cooking in the kitchen
Kid sat at a table with his old man
Now I wonder, does my son miss me
Does he wonder where I am?

[Verse 9]
Tonight I pick my campsite carefully
Outside the Sacramento yard
Gather some wood and light a fire
In the early winter dark

[Verse 10]
Wind whistling cold, I pull my coat around me
Heat some coffee and stare into the black night
I lie awake, I lie awake, sir
With my machete by my side

[Verse 11]
My Jesus, your gracious love and mercy
Tonight, I'm sorry, could not fill
My heart like one good rifle
And the name of who I ought to kill

Bruce Springsteen is a rock ‘n’ roll icon from the great state of New Jersey. Nicknamed “The Boss,” he’s known for spirited sax-powered anthems about working-class people making their way in the world. Backed by the trusty E Street Band, he’s sold more than 120 million records, won numerous awards (including 20 Grammys and an Oscar), sold out stadiums around the globe, and earned a place alongside his teenage heroes in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Although he’s a living legend who ranks among the most important artists in rock history, Springsteen wasn’t an overnight success. Around the time of his first album, 1973’s Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., he was dismissed as just another “new Dylan"—some scruffy folk singer with a decent vocabulary looking to follow in Bob’s footsteps. In the decade that followed, Springsteen proved himself to be much more.

His breakthrough came with his third album, 1975’s Born to Run. The record hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and landed the singer-songwriter on the cover of both Time and Newsweek. Bruce nabbed his first chart-topping album five years later with The River, and in 1984, he went global with Born in the U.S.A., a critical and commercial smash that produced seven Top 10 singles.

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