I’m a pretty big music buff. There isn’t a day that goes by where my headphones are not strapped to my head blasting tunes. Even though I consider my taste fairly eclectic, I still have some musical blind spots. One of the bigger ones is The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. I’ve listened to exactly one song of his intentionally that I liked, but I haven’t broached beyond that one. Enter Springsteen expert Rachel Leishman. Rachel is going to teach me all I need to know about the man, the music, the legend.
When did you start getting into Bruce and Why?
Rachel Leishman:
I grew up in a family that listens to all kinds of music. My dad loved classic rock and my mom loved R&B. While my brothers had their fair share of music tastes too, it was my middle brother who brought Springsteen to us all. He fell in love with him, and then turned each of us onto him, which led to us all having our favorite song from The Boss. I took the full force of growing up listening to his music and immersing myself in his work. It makes sharing the love I have for Bruce with others that much more exciting.
Dani Janae:
My story with Bruce probably started in 2019. I’m fuzzy on the details but I was watching a TV show or a movie and the song “State Trooper” came on and I was like ohhhh this is a vibe. I loved the grungy, grainy nature of his voice and the lyrics were also dope. I grew up on lots of soul, R&B, disco, and the like. My knowledge of rock and other more Americana-related music came much later when I was in my mid-teens to early 20s.
Why are you interested in exploring his music?
Rachel Leishman:
For me, it has always been about how Springsteen uses his lyrics to tell stories about his life. He grew up a working-class kid from New Jersey and wrote about his desire to get out of there … and how his dreams were bigger than what his hometown had for him. That mentality of just trying to get out of a situation you find yourself in and the struggle to find your own footing is relatable. His newer music continues to explore emotions many of us have gone through; like loss, looking back at what we’ve done and wishing we’d done more, and trying to just overcome whatever is in our paths.
Dani Janae:
There is a lot of music that once felt very inaccessible to me, and Springsteen was definitely one of those artists. I associated him with what I call “Let’s go America country,” which is like that pro-America music that extols the perceived greatness of this country. I was one of those kids who stopped doing the pledge in middle school out of protest … so I was NOT into that kind of stuff. But, I’m now in a place where I work as a music journalist and my relationship to music is ‘the more the merrier,’ so if I can find artists I’m into across multiple genres then I’m happy to do so.
Do you think it’s purposeful that his music is beloved by certain demographics and unknown by others?
Rachel Leishman:
I don’t think it is something Springsteen sought to do given the range of topics his music covers. Instead, I think that Springsteen as an artist just gives life to a specific genre of music. It just might not be as ingrained in the upbringing of someone else as it was within my family. His music speaks to universal themes but is pushed to us through the rock genre, and if rock music isn’t something you’d lean towards then you might miss the allure of what Springsteen brings to us all.
That and there is a difference between Springsteen when he’s on his own—and when he’s with the E Street Band. Most people know songs he did with Clarence at his side, or how he loves to call Steve over to him when they’re performing, but if you never had a reason to get into Springsteen then you might not know the rich and exciting history between the band and The Boss.
Dani Janae:
I don’t think it’s necessarily intentional on his end. Like, I’ll speak for myself and say I used to look at his music and think “That’s some white people shit” which kept me away from it for years, even though I listened to other genres that people considered white-dominated. I do think that sometimes we as listeners lay claim to certain artists and say, “This artist is for this kind of person,” and so we guide our listening based on those assumptions.
Also, I used to see tweets and stuff about his relationship with Clarence Clemons and that also made me curious about him and his music. Like, their musical relationship and overall friendship just seemed so fun and innocent that I was like, “Springsteen seems like an okay guy, maybe I’ll get into him someday.”
I will say the catalyst for this was a podcast host and comedian I like, Scott Aukerman, launching a podcast about The Boss and I was like, okay if I want to listen to the podcast I’ll also have to know at least a few more of his songs. I don’t know Aukerman personally but I think he is funny and trust his musical sensibilities as he also seems like a person who just has a passion for good songs.
Do you think folks would be shocked that you are/might get into Bruce? Why?
Rachel Leishman:
In a way, yes. Appearance-wise, people see a short blonde girl and don’t think I’d like classic rock at all when that’s a lot of what I listen to on the daily. With Springsteen specifically, it runs deeper for me because of his own background and how it so easily mirrors that of my family. Leishman is a Scottish name and we are both Scottish and Irish. While the Springsteen portion of his name isn’t Irish, he is.
His mother is also an Italian-American like my mother. Learning all of this about Springsteen made it obvious why he was so formative first to my brother and then to me. We related to his struggles and his ideals, so while it might be odd that I am at his concerts belting along to some songs, it wouldn’t be shocking if you knew me.
Dani Janae:
This is funny because I just got off the phone with a friend to whom I was explaining this story, and she was like “Uh … why are you doing this?” So I definitely think people will be surprised—some delighted and surprised at the same time. As a music journalist, I’ve written about R&B artists, rock, country, folk, blues, pretty much a really wide variety of genres. So people shouldn’t be shocked but I’m sure they will be. My personal listening patterns lean very soul and R&B heavy with a focus on Black artists so maybe that’s why my friend was a little put off.
Where should a newcomer start with his catalog? What are songs that you already know?
Rachel Leishman:
At this point in my life, I don’t think there is a Springsteen album I haven’t heard. So to base this on my favorites, the album I love as a whole is Darkness on the Edge of Town. There are so many brilliant songs on it, including my second favorite of his, “Badlands.” It is always featured at his concerts because it is the album that many connected with when Bruce was making music.
There are so many songs throughout his career that really connected with me. Like “Growing Up,” or my family connection to “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out.” But the song that means the most to me is “Atlantic City” off of Nebraska. I heard it for the first time during his most recent concert that I went to in New Jersey, and hearing him sing; “Everything dies, baby that’s a fact. But maybe everything that dies, someday comes back.”, live and in the flesh made me cry about all the love I have for The Boss.
Dani Janae:
So I only know “State Trooper” right now, from Nebraska. I just really respect the oeuvre and the storytelling in that song. It reminds me of being in a smoky bar in Pennsylvania. In fact, it kind of makes me wish I still smoked. I love the end of the song where he’s like “woo”-ing and yelping, it’s very visceral and exciting. Gives the song a lot of power.
Other artists you would recommend to each other that fit his vibe?
Rachel Leishman:
Springsteen is a story man. So while Bob Dylan is considered folk music, his way of weaving a story into the song is easy to relate back to Springsteen. If you’re looking for more of the same vibe, bands like the Traveling Wilburys, or artists like Tom Petty and Neil Young have that same kind of approach to their lyrics, but they’re a bit more rock heavy than someone like Dylan. Springsteen is such a once-in-a-lifetime artist that it is hard to compare him, but it is something beautiful to see artists be inspired by him.
Two newer bands who both pull from their love of Springsteen, and have worked with him, are The Killers and Bleachers. Brandon Flowers of The Killers and Jack Antonoff of Bleachers have both talked about their love for The Boss’ music. He has collaborated with them and even showed up at the NYC concert for The Killers to perform. It is a testament to the legacy that his music has brought to the world.
Dani Janae:
I always associate Springsteen with Tom Petty, another artist whose work I want to get into. There’s a great band I love called Sun June that has a song called “Tom Petty.” I listen to it a lot and I always make a point to try and understand the reference that is being made in a song I like, so Tom Petty is next on my list of like, old white men I want to explore musically.
It also makes me think of when I started listening to Steely Dan. I think I first heard of them on a podcast called Punch Up the Jam and they were talking about what a bop “Peg” is. I was like, I probably won’t like that, but then I asked a friend on Twitter about them and she was so excited to recommend songs to me. I listened and was like, “Oh these motherfuckers can make a song!” Steely Dan and Springsteen are different genre wise but—the story for me remains the same.
