Often referred to as ‘The Boss’, Bruce Springsteen is best known as the frontman of the E Street Band. Now, he sits proudly as one of the best rock and roll artists of the 20th century. Bruce’s work was also influenced by the working-class and blue-collar themes of his upbringing in New Jersey.
Looking back on his childhood days, he fell in love with rock n’ roll after seeing Elvis Presley’s performance on TV. About it, he said, “I saw Elvis on TV, and when I first saw Elvis, I was nine, but I was a little young, tried to play the guitar, but it didn’t work out, I put it away.”
He was also very much influenced by The Beatles. Regarding it, he talked about them during an interview with Rolling Stone. He said, “The keeper was in 1964, ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ on South Street with my mother driving.”
He explained, that he demanded his mother let him out. That’s when he ran to the bowling alley and ran down a long neon-lit aisle. He then went to the phone booth, got in the phone booth, and called his girl. Bruce then asked his girlfriend ‘Have you heard this band called The Beatles?’ After that, it was nothing but rock ‘n’ roll and guitars.’
His fame didn’t come to him easily. In the early 70s, Springsteen built an early incarnation of the E-Street Band and worked on his studio albums. He signed with Columbia Record in 1972. His debut was disappointing. Even after he put everything in his second album ‘The Wild, the Innocent & the E-Street Shuffle was also a flop. Columbia gave him a final deal that was worth it, and to Springsteen, it was a golden ticket. “Born To Run” was a masterpiece, and everyone loved it.
Another album that had deep poetic songwriting which was loved by everyone was Darkness on the Edge of Town. One song that tops everything on the album is ‘Adam Raised a Cain‘. It is the second track on the album and is a mix of dour lyricism and rock n’ roll. Springsteen revealed it was about a complex relationship between father and son. He once said the song was “emotionally autobiographical” and reflects on the relationship he had with his own father. He said,
“Our actual relationship was probably more complicated than how I presented it. Those songs were ways that I spoke to my father at the time, because he didn’t speak, and we didn’t talk very much.”
Listen to the song Adam Raised a Cain down below.
