My take on Springsteen's "Born to Run"

I originally wrote this in 2002 after Springsteen's The Rising was released.

“Born to Run” has many elements that make it one of the quintessential rock and roll songs. It has meaningful lyrics that do not pander but tell it like it is for many people: isolation, desolation, searching, redemption. The fury with which the original blasted through the speakers is tempered only by the solo acoustic version of 1988. The fury with which the music is played counterpoints the desperation of the lyrics, the search for something better in life and in love. And, I could argue, the sax solo is the climax of the love affair between the singer and Wendy. After they are spent, they realize that there is still the search for 'that place in the sun,' a search that may never be resolved. But, they are together and, together, they will search.

And the more-adult, older Bruce that sings BTR with only his acoustic guitar is, one could argue, talking to the singer of BTR from the vantage point of age. Bruce, with his failed first marriage and the infidelities within, lived the life of one of his characters. The Bruce of 1988 is telling the Bruce of 1975 that even when you might think you have everything, it can crumble and leave you lower than before. So, the search continues and, the redemption [for all of its faults] is the love of a wife and children that he sings about on his 1992 CDs, Human Touch and Lucky Town.

In light of the redemptive qualities from his 2002 CD, The Rising, “Born to Run” is bittersweet. It is redemptive but still tentative.