Welcome to our collection of quotes (with shareable picture quotes) by Bruce Springsteen. We hope you enjoy pondering them and that you will share them widely.
Wikipedia Summary for Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who is both a solo artist and the leader of the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he received critical acclaim for his early 1970s albums and attained worldwide fame upon the release of Born to Run in 1975. During a career that has spanned five decades, Springsteen has become known for his poetic, socially conscious lyrics and energetic stage performances, sometimes lasting up to four hours in length. He has been nicknamed "The Boss". He has recorded both rock albums and folk-oriented works, and his lyrics often address the experiences and struggles of working-class Americans.
Born in the U.S.A. (1984) is Springsteen's most commercially successful album, making him one of the most successful rock figures of the 1980s. It was certified 15× platinum in the US and has sold 30 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time. Seven of its singles reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 including the title track, which was a bitter commentary on the treatment of Vietnam veterans — some of whom were Springsteen's friends. Advocating for the rights of the common working-class man, the song made a huge political impact. Springsteen's other best-known songs include "Born to Run" (1975), "Thunder Road" (1975), "Badlands" (1978), "Hungry Heart" (1980), "The River" (1980), "Atlantic City" (1982), "Dancing in the Dark" (1984), "I'm on Fire" (1984), "Glory Days" (1984), "Brilliant Disguise" (1987), "Human Touch" (1992), "Streets of Philadelphia" (1994), and "The Rising" (2002).
Among the album era's prominent acts, Springsteen has sold more than 150 million records worldwide and more than 64 million albums in the United States, making him one of the world's best-selling music artists. He has earned numerous awards for his work, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award (for Springsteen on Broadway). Springsteen was inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, received the Kennedy Center Honors in 2009, was named MusiCares person of the year in 2013, and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2016. He is ranked 23rd on Rolling Stone’s list of the Greatest Artists of All Time.
I was eight years old and running with a dime in my hand into the bus stop to pick up a paper for my old man. I'd sit on his lap in that big old Buick and steer as we drove through town. He'd tousle my hair and say son take a good look around. This is your hometown.
Somewhere up the stairs, Into the fire May your strength give us strength May your faith give us faith.
I'm always in search of something, in search of losing myself to the music.
While I wasn't very good at much else in school, in my creative-writing classes or when we had to do some writing in my English classes, I tended to do better at it.
To say I'll make your dreams come true would be wrong, but maybe, darling, I could help them along.
When I was young, it was sort of built to intimidate. Even on this very local level in this very small church in this small town, it still held that sort of -- held you in the palm of its darkness.
I would spend my life on the road logging hundreds of thousands of miles and my story was always the same... man comes to town, detonates; man leaves town and drives off into the evening; fade to black. Just the way I like it.
I can feel the love I'm a part of surrounding me and flowing through me; I'm near home and I'm standing hand in hand with those I love, past and present, in the sun, on the outskirts of something that feels almost like... being free.
I don't think people go to musicians for their political points of view. I think your political point of view is circumstances and then how you were nurtured and brought up.
As it's told, it is altered, as all stories are in the telling, by time, will, perception, faith, love, work, by hope, decrepit, imagination, fear, history and the thousand other variable powers that play upon our personal narratives.
I got a house full of Rembrandts and priceless art, and all the little girls they wanna tear me apart.
Ought to be easy, ought to be simple enough: Man meets woman, and they fall in love, But the house is haunted and the ride gets rough. You got to learn to live with what you can't rise above.
Aging is scary but fascinating, and great talent morphs in strange and often enlightening ways.
I don't know if I know anyone, with the exception of the early inventors of rock music who wasn't influenced by something.
One problem with the way the educational system is set up is that it only recognizes a certain type of intelligence, and it's incredibly restrictive -- very, very restrictive. There's so many types of intelligence, and people who would be at their best outside of that structure get lost.
I think there's only eight songs on 'Born to Run' -- I don't think it's much more than 35 minutes long. But as you move into it, where every song comes up in the sequence makes a lot of sense -- though we weren't thinking about it; we were going on instinct at the time.
Baby, in a world without pity Do you think what I'm askin's too much I just want to feel you in my arms Share a little of that Human Touch.
I think 1960s small-town America was very Lynchian. Everything was there, but underneath, everything was rumbling.
Outside the street's on fire in a real death waltz between what's flesh and what's fantasy.
The great challenge of adulthood is holding on to your idealism after you lose your innocence.
Let's raise our glass and let the hammer fly, yeah, this is the long good-bye.
Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, and a king ain't satisfied until he rules everything.
Our American government has strayed too far from American values. It is time to move forward. The country we carry in our hearts is waiting.
There's a beauty in work and I love it, all different kinds of work. That's what I consider it. Rock is my job, and that's my work. And I work my ass off, you know.
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive.
Hey, little dolly with the blue jeans on, I want to ramrod with you, honey, 'til half past dawn.
What you were singing about was believable and convincing, that's the key to a great singer.
A dream of life comes to me, like a catfish dancing on the end of the line.
I think when you're a child, you just cling to the basics, which is the basic story of Jesus and the crucifixion and hell and eternal punishment and the flames. This was all stuff that was -- forget when you're young.
Elvis is my religion. But for him, I'd be selling encyclopedias right now.
The artists we love, they put their fingerprint on your imagination, and on your heart and your soul.
You still had to find the music inside your language. You know, it was -- that's a big part of what sort of moved me to begin writing the book. I wrote a little essay and I felt, yeah, this is a good voice. This is a good feeling. It feels like me.
A good song gathers the years in. It's why you can sing it with such conviction 40 years after it's been written.
There's an opera out on the turnpike, there's a ballet being fought out in the alley.
My soul is lost, my friend, tell me how do I begin again? My city's in ruins, my city's in ruins.
Here everybody has a neighbor Everybody has a friend Everybody has a reason to begin again.
I come from a boardwalk town where almost everything is tinged with a bit of fraud. So am I.
Now young faces grow sad and old and hearts of fire grow cold We swore blood brothers against the wind I'm ready to grow young again.
Go-kart Mozart was checking out the weather chart to see if it was safe outside.
Because we lived in the presence of the church and the convent and the rectory and the school 24-7. And this was an enormous cornerstone in the lives of my entire family. They were all pretty serious Catholic churchgoers.
Your flag flyin' over the courthouse
Means certain things are set in stone.
Who we are, what we'll do and what we won't.
My dad had a very difficult life, a hard struggle all the time at work. I've always felt like I'm seeking his revenge.
I know your mama she don't like me, cause I play in a rock and roll band.
You can't start a fire Worrying 'bout your little world falling apart This gun's for hire Even if we're just dancing in the dark.
There's people that get a chance to do the kind of work that changes the world, and make things really different. And there's the kind that just keeps the world from falling apart.
Time slips away and leaves you with nothing, mister, but boring stories of glory days.
Don't run back inside, darlin', you know just what I'm here for. So you're scared and you're thinkin' we ain't that young any more...Show a little faith! There's magic in the night. You ain't a beauty, but hey, you're all right.
Some guys they just give up living, and start dying little by little, piece by piece.
I took a month long vacation in the stratosphere, and you know it's very hard to hold your breath.
Fame, on its best day, is kind of like a friendly wave from a stranger by the side of the road. And when it's not so good, it's like a long walk home, all alone, with nobody in when you get there.
You ride in a limousine the first time, it's a big thrill but after that it's just a stupid car.
Roll down the window and let the wind blow back your hair. The night's busted open. These two lanes will take us anywhere.
You have moments of clarity, things become clear to you that you didn't understand before. But there's never any making ends meet or finding any time of longstanding peace of mind about something.
I've found that giving 100% to your job isn't the same as giving 100% of your life to your job. Very often when I thought I was giving 100% of my life to my job, I was simply obsessing over something.
Last night me and Kate we laid in bed talking about getting out, Packing up our bags, maybe heading south. I'm thirty-five, we got a boy of our own now. Last night I sat him up behind the wheel and said, Son, take a good look around, This is your hometown.
For one kiss, darling, I swear everything I would give. Cause you're a walking, talking reason to live.
I realized the only time I felt complete and peaceful was while I was playing or shortly afterwards, even though it was in front of thousands of other people, which most people wouldn't consider to be a safe place.
Those wounds stay with you, and you turn them into a language and a purpose.
Gonna be a twister to blow everything down That ain't got the faith to stand its ground Blow away the dreams that tear you apart Blow away the dreams that break your heart Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted.
I had spent about three months where I couldn't sing at all, so that was anxiety-provoking. But after that, I went back out. I sang for two hours in my garage one day to see if I had a voice.
Blood moon risin' in a sky of black dust, tell me baby, who do you trust?
You'll walk with me out on the wire, cuz baby, I'm just a scared and lonely rider, but I gotta know how it feels... I want to know love is wild, babe, I want to know love is real.
I looked at myself, and I just said, 'Well, you know, I can sing, but I'm not the greatest singer in the world. I can play guitar very well, but I'm not the greatest guitar player in the world.' So I said, 'Well, if I'm going to project an individuality, it's going to have to be in my writing.'
You weren't supposed to hear Elvis Presley. You weren't supposed to hear Jerry Lee Lewis. You weren't supposed to hear Robert Johnson. You weren't supposed to hear Hank Williams. And they told the story of the secret America.
Your legs were heaven, your breasts were the alter, your body was the holy land.
It took quite a bit of work and time and mistakes to begin to feel -- to understand the strength that comes along with building a home life.That was very mysterious to me. I was very skeptical of it for a long time, and didn't understand it fully until Patti Scialfa and I got together.
When you have three teenagers, it gives a whole new meaning to homeland security.
You use to drive me wild, but lately you get your kicks from just knocking me down, down, down.
The star thing I can live with. The music I can't live without. And that's how it lays out for me, you know. I got as big an ego and enjoy the attention.
Once you get into the book, you've got to constantly find your -- the rhythm of your prose. And it ends up being quite a musical experience either way.
Nothing matters in the whole wide world when you're in love with a Jersey girl.
When asked where his drive comes from You're bullied, you're miserable...every artist has someone who told them they weren't worth dirt and someone who told them that they were the second coming of the baby Jesus and they believed them both, and that's the fuel that stirs the fire.
You have to create the show anew, and find it anew, on a nightly basis.
Most of these -- most people's stage personas are created out of the flotsam and jetsam of their internal geography.
The first time I heard Bob Dylan, I was in the car with my mother listening to WMCA, and on came that snare shot that sounded like somebody'd kicked open the door to your mind.