Music has a habit of soundtracking all our lives. We can probably all think back to a moment of significance and remember, if not the track playing then, the kind of music on the radio during a particular period. It is part of what makes songs and albums so wonderful and why Hollywood incessantly employs pop music as a means of creating an audience connection.
For many, there is no greater conduit to remembering their life than Bruce Springsteen.
Even if you ignore the fact that for five decades Springsteen has been pumping out hits that have littered your airwaves, what ‘The Boss’ provided, especially during his heyday, was a deep connection to the world around us. Especially for those growing up in the US, Springsteen’s lyrics felt like postcards from home; they were the words of your father and mother, of late nights in lowlit bars and chasing friends up trees. But it wasn’t just America where the singer touched his audience.
Across The Pond, a writer named Nick Hornby was equally connecting with Springsteen and his song ‘Bobby Jean’ taken from his legendary 1984 record Born in the USA. The tune was written for Steven Van Zandt, who left the E Street Band during the making of the iconic album in pursuit of other creative projects. He would eventually land a role in The Sopranos and, ironically, the track would provide Springsteen with his first acting credit just a short while later.
A love letter to his guitarist, the track is about a crooner looking for a girl in an old haunt, only to find that she has moved away. Most people assumed that the subject of ‘Bobby Jean’ was a girl, which dramatically changed the viewpoint on the track, and that’s certainly what Hornby took away from it.
So Hornby used it in his book about a loverlorn record shop owner, High Fidelity. The book is a uniquely British affair, feeling as close to the cold paved slabs of North London as is possible to do on the page. Showcasing his encyclopaedic knowledge of music, protagonist Rob says: “There’s this Springsteen song, ‘Bobby Jean,’ off Born In The USA About a girl who’s left town years before and he’s pissed off because he didn’t know about it, and he wanted to say goodbye, tell her that he missed her, and wish her good luck. Well, I’d like my life to be like a Springsteen song. Just once.”
The inclusion would mean that Springsteen got his first shot at acting when the book was adapted into a movie starring John Cusack and Jack Black. Picked up alongside Hornby’s About A Boy, which starred Hugh Grant, the picture is one of the better music-focused movies you have ever watched. It has a degree of authenticity that makes it feel warmly comforting.
Springsteen gets his shot on screen as he appears in a dream sequence and closes out his appearance by telling Cusack’s Rob, “Good luck, goodbye”, which is the final line in the track.
Whether you are American, British or otherwise, ‘Bobby Jean’ is proof that Springsteen is able to connect with your soul at a moment’s notice and help make memories. It is also the song that gave him his first Hollywood moment to never forget.
