Bruce Springsteen, one of the greatest rock musicians of our time, has long earned his place among the greatest songwriters in modern history. Countless articles, essays, and works of literary appreciation attest to this, just check QuickSearch and you’ll find more than enough evidence. His 2016 memoir, Born to run, is a chance to not only revisit his achievements as a guitarist, singer, performer, and activist, but also an engaging and inspiring read for all generations a decade later.
Memoirs and mental health
Memoirs on my radar in connection with the Rutgers addiction studies collection usually intersect with alcohol or drugs. Shockingly, Springsteen didn’t have his first drink until age 22. In his memoir, he explains clearly why he chose to abstain, for reasons that make perfect sense once you understand the family dynamics he witnessed and the personality he reveals: a person with a profound fear of losing control.
Another timeless aspect of his story is his candid account of struggling with mental health:
“Every meaningless thing became the subject of a world-shattering existential crisis filling me with an awful profound foreboding and sadness. All was lost.”
Yet the book also traces his path forward: finding one’s own way toward a meaningful life.
“I wanted to be a voice that reflected experience and the world I lived in,” he writes, as a powerful summary of his personal mission. Fortunately for us, the already successful musician recognized early that rock music had become “a culture shaper.” Seeking impact and influence, he stopped performing for a period and focused entirely on writing the songs that would eventually define him as the Bruce Springsteen we know. Having achieved that goal, he has continued to use his platform for the greater good ever since.
How did he do it? Springsteen’s advice to aspiring songwriters is simple:
“First, you write for yourself… always, to make sense of experience and the world around you.”
Translated beyond songwriting: whether you’re a welder or a barista, taking pride in your work can do wonders for your well-being and overall mental health. Never underestimate the power of a job well done, the sense of achievement that comes from knowing you gave it everything (think of the legendary length of his concerts). In our social-media-obsessed world, we tend to forget Ralph Waldo Emerson’s wisdom: “The reward of a thing well done is to have done it.”
Springsteen’s example proves that doing meaningful, high-quality work can be profoundly stabilizing.
The evolving music industry
Another aspect of his memoir that appeals across generations is the way it transports us into everyday life in New Jersey across several decades, where, for example, you might “get hassled for the length of your hair by some polyester-laden mafia wannabe out Long Branch.” His recollections also function as a living history of the American rock music industry. He readily admits that music is full of illusions: artists are always “tricking” the audience. As he pulls back the curtain, Springsteen reveals his own blend of talent, dedication, grit, and resilience, qualities sometimes lost in today’s era of instant fame.
Bruce Springsteen in East Berlin in 1988. Source: Bundesarchiv
Sounding almost anachronistic in the world of streaming and digitally mastered tracks, Springsteen takes us back to the time when music had to sound its very best on the radio, a tall order for any musician. His reflections on the power of DJs reminded me of a one-hour weekly show called “Teenager Party.” László Cseke, who defected from communist Hungary, hosted the only program that played rock and jazz from the West between 1959 and 1992 while living a double life. Broadcasted in Hungarian from Munich, Germany, on U.S. Congress–funded Radio Free Europe, it aired only on shortwave and was strictly forbidden in Hungary, with imprisonment as a possible consequence of being caught listening. Yet that one hour gave hope to generations of young Hungarians behind the Iron Curtain.
Hailing from Freehold, NJ, Springsteen understood the DJ’s role intuitively; the DJ who made you wait for the song that you felt might change your life. Springsteen sang about dreaming “somewhere in the swamps of New Jersey,” unaware of young people behind the Iron Curtain dreaming about the West as presented by musicians, clinging to songs we believed were written for us, even when we didn’t understand the language.
Music as therapy
I must admit I didn’t know about Bruce Springsteen for quite some time—not even about the often-misinterpreted “Born in the U.S.A.”—until his epic 1988 East Berlin concert, performed for 160,000 people just a year before the Berlin Wall fell. My excuse, growing up behind the Iron Curtain, goes only so far.
His music truly reached me through the melancholy of “Streets of Philadelphia,” which was far more popular in Europe than in the U.S. Written for the 1993 film Philadelphia, the first major Hollywood movie addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the song radiates helplessness and loneliness, capturing the agony of those “ghosted” by friends, family, and loved ones in the face of terminal illness. The line “I can feel myself fading away” resonates deeply with anyone confronting the fear of an impending or inevitable death.
“Streets of Philadelphia” is tied closely to a disease that was incurable at the time. An HIV diagnosis today is no longer a death sentence. When I hear Springsteen sing it now, I can’t help but think about the hope it may offer to patients today—including Patti Scialfa, Springsteen’s wife and fellow performer, who herself lives with a serious illness that will, hopefully, one day be curable.
Artist Bruce Springsteen and his wife perform onstage during the Stand Up for Heroes special at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Nov. 5, 2014. (DOD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Daniel Hinton/Released)
I am delighted to add Born to Run, the author-narrated, 18-hour audiobook version, to my small but vivid collection of Springsteen memories: the East Berlin concert recorded off the defunct DDR TV channel (minus his introductory speech, of course), “Streets of Philadelphia,” and the annual Born to Run 8-Mile Race in Freehold, held the day after Thanksgiving (which I ran just to get the T‑shirt).
- For more on Springsteen, including books, articles, recordings, and even memorabilia, visit Rutgers Libraries online, or the Springsteen display at Douglass Library.
- The Bruce Springsteen Center for American Music, located on the campus of Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, opens to the public this June.
From Rutgers University Libraries (books online)
- Burger, J. (2013). Springsteen on Springsteen : interviews, speeches, and encounters (J. Burger, Ed.; 1st ed.). Chicago Review Press.
- Carlin, P. A. (2025). Tonight in Jungleland : The Making of Born to Run. (1st ed.). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
- Cavicchi, D. (2024). Tramps like us: music and meaning among Springsteen fans (1st ed.). Oxford University Press.
- Cologne-Brookes, G. (2018). American lonesome: the work of Bruce Springsteen. Louisiana State University Press.
- Deardorff, D. L. (2015). Bruce Springsteen : American poet and prophet (1st ed.). The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
- Madden, C. (2020). Springsteen as soundtrack : the sound of the Boss in film and television. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.
- Mangione, L., & Luff, D. (2023). Mary climbs in : the journeys of Bruce Springsteen’s women fans (1st ed.). Rutgers University Press.
- Wolff, W. I. (2017). Bruce Springsteen and popular music : rhetoric, social consciousness, and contemporary culture (1st ed.). Routledge.
- Womack, K., Zolten, J. J., & Bernhard, M. (2012). Bruce Springsteen, cultural studies and the runaway American dream (1st ed.). Ashgate.