There are few artists that seem to encapsulate the entire ethos of America like Bruce Springsteen.
Even if he has his moments where he can get on his soapbox, ‘The Boss’ has always been proud to say whatever is on his mind and look out for the little guy every single time he gets up on that stage. But even if he didn’t necessarily have to work a day in his life outside of being in a rock and roll band, he knew that nothing in life doesn’t come without putting in the effort to get to the top.
Because what happened on Born to Run or even Nebraska isn’t an accident. Springsteen was slowly woodshedding every one of his songs, and even if he had the skeleton of a particular tune in his head when he started, sometimes they need a few years’ worth of experience for everything to truly sink in like they should. But when looking at his heroes, it’s not like he didn’t know the importance of getting the right words for any of his songs.
All of Bob Dylan’s finest work as about twisting words until they were absolutely perfect both on the page and on the screen, and while Roy Orbison had the kind of voice that could pierce through anyone’s heart, it was the raw vulnerability behind tunes like ‘Only the Lonely’ that resonated with him far more than any voice ever could.
But it’s not like ‘The Boss’ didn’t have stiff competition. The singer-songwriter scene had grown a lot bigger in the years since his childhood, and everyone from Joni Mitchell to James Taylor to surely other adversaries with names that start with ‘J’ were there to take his spot. But no one else had the same kind of handle on emotions as Jackson Browne did when Springsteen heard him for the first time.
Browne may not have been the most magnetic frontman of all time or the most versatile voice in the world, but there was a certain ache in the way that he sang that could reduce anyone to tears. ‘Doctor My Eyes’ may have been among his best-known hits, but when looking into the deep cuts on his records and his most celebrated material, Springsteen knew Browne could put any other California rock star to shame.
Despite Eagles being more identifiable with that era of Los Angeles, Springsteen knew there was no touching what Browne did, saying at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, “The meticulousness of his craft was only matched by the deepness of soul. ‘The Pretender’, ‘These Days’, ‘For Everyman’, ‘I’m Alive’, ‘Fountain of Sorrow’, ‘Running on Empty’. Now I know the Eagles got in first, but let’s face it, and I know Don Henley would agree. These are the songs they wish they’d written. I wish I’d written them myself.”
And it’s not like Eagles weren’t friends with Browne, either. He had gifted them ‘Take It Easy’ as their first single, but even if Henley and Glenn Frey turned into legends in their own right, they would have been nothing were it not for seeing Browne meticulously go through his songs line by line until he had the perfect piece of music that could make you laugh and cry in equal measure
Although Springsteen had a better handle on what his music was supposed to be, Browne was the one out there to set the example for what all great songwriters should aspire to write like. Anyone can dream of being the next Bob Dylan, but sometimes you need a little more elbow grease to get it over the line.
