Bruce Springsteen: Songs (Paperback)

by Bruce Springsteen (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Songs is aptly titled, for while Bruce Springsteen contributes text to this 300-page book, the writing centers on his songs, tangentially sketching his life story. The lyrics to well over 100 songs are presented, dating from the first track on his 1973 debut, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (that would be "Blinded by the Light") through the last selection on 1995's The Ghost of Tom Joad ("My Best Was Never Good Enough"). The lyrics are broken up by photos (a ponytailed youth practices his guitar on a bed in his parents' apartment, the Boss buys a burger, Springsteen mugs while on a desert motorcycle outing). Original lyric sheets provide some insight into the Jersey boy's creative methodology. Most interesting, however, are the chapters Springsteen penned for the book. Broken down by album, they provide abbreviated accounts of his creative development, and some of the writing is quite telling. (Of his commercial smash Born in the U.S.A., he professes ambivalence: "It forced me to question the way I presented my music and made me think harder about what I was doing.") Passionate fans of the man will find this heavy-duty songbook, journal, and photo album rewarding, and it certainly whets the appetite for a more thorough memoir. --Steven Stolder --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Twenty-five years' worth of the Boss.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (October 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380796112
• ISBN-13: 978-0380796113
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #775,784 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars More story...less lyrics, December 26, 1998

By	Thomas Wolfe ([e-mail]) "twolfe@twol... (Atlanta, Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bruce Springsteen: Songs (Hardcover)

This is a well written historical perspective of Springsteen's last twenty five years musically. Unfortunately, a true Springsteen fan already knows the lyrics to his songs inside and out. If the book had been all stories and Bruce's insights to his songwriting it would have been perfect. Bruce's own words gives the reader an inside view of the artist's thoughts, decisions, and the aspirations of his music. The picture history ties it all together as a great document of a truly one of a kind performer. I recommend this book to anyone who understood that "Born in the U.S.A." was not an anthem for America but a cynical protest against our treatment of the Vietnam veteran.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Springsteen's short essays and song lyrics up to 1998, December 28, 2002

By	christinemm - The Thinking Mother (Connecticut, United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Bruce Springsteen: Songs (Hardcover)

"Songs" is available in both softcover and hardcover formats, with very different prices for each. If you want to spend a higher amount for a beautiful hardcover, here it is, or if you want to own the book for more of the content and to save money, there is a softcover version. I own the hardcover and am enjoying it very much. The paper is thick and glossy. This is a very hefty tome. The hardcover with its' large format pages does make for a great coffee table book.

As a preface to each album's lyrics, Bruce provides a short essay about what was going on with his life and what his idea for the message of the album was. There are great photographs throughout. Sometimes there are color photocopies of his handwritten lyrics, taken from the spiral notebooks that are his "blank slates". I really enjoyed reading the songs whose original lyrics were different, and the places where he inserted 2 or 3 different adjectives as he tried to find the best one for what he was trying to convey. I especially enjoyed "Candy's Room" as it is one of my favorite songs, and I was surprised to see that the original lyrics were quite a bit different and I got a gist for the original intent of the meaning of the song vs. my own interpretation of the final product, which were two different things.

Artistically, the book could use some improvement; after all, this is a coffee table book! The font is very plain for the lyrics of the songs, and the same font is used for every song, and every page of lyrics has a plain white background. I assumed since this is a coffee table book that the text would have been stylized a bit, perhaps with different fonts for each album or for every song, to match the mood of the song or such. For example, the printed lyrics in "The Rising" CD special edition package are printed with a very funky font (which are actually a bit hard to read when printed with such tiny font). Where in the CD case I am fine with clearly printed, plain style tiny font, I thought this large format book would have used the space and artistic flair to stylize it up a bit, as was done with "The Rising" lyrics inside the CD package. Another way the book could have been stylized more is to have the background of the song lyrics not plain white but at least a color or having a textured look, a border or a collage of sorts, with small photographs around it or something to jazz up the look of the pages. However, with it the way it is, with plain font on white paper, it allows for clear reading and forces the words to stand on their own and for what they are. Without clutter, we are easily able to use our imagination and form our own opinions. Perhaps that is what Bruce Springsteen wanted for us: to have his lyrics speak for themselves, to not overload our eyes and mind with images, to have a clear canvas and allow our own minds to use the words to form our own thoughts and images.

Despite my desire for it to be more artsy, I love the book and am treasuring it. This is about letting the songs speak for themselves. If you are looking for a biography of Springsteen, this is not it; there are other books already out there that fill this market. I hope at some time in the future a second book will be published with all of the songs that this book lacks, such as the recordings on the "Tracks" album that are not featured here and all of the recordings released since this book was published in 1998.

I agree with other reviewers here, I also crave more detail directly from Bruce Springsteen about his own reflections on his life, his songs, and his general outlook on things. We have plenty of information from other writers (i.e. Dave Marsh) but we are critical enough to know that we can't fully trust biographers, rock critics, and other spin-doctors. We want the information right from Bruce, not filtered through interviewers for television programs, and not through biographies. We know Bruce is a real person with strong convictions and firm opinions and we crave the information (the pure truth) directly from The Boss. However, I can appreciate that at some point, Bruce Springsteen and other musicians (and celebrities) who have reached a high popularity status level want to keep at least some of their lives and thoughts private. But I will ask anyway: "please...can we have more directly from you, Bruce"?

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars this book is all about design, November 1, 2000

By	Snapdragon (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bruce Springsteen: Songs (Hardcover)

The first thing you should know about Springsteen's book SONGS is that it is a coffee table book for his upward-mobile-now-a-little-bit-older fan base. If you are looking for some real insight into the Artistry of the Boss, this book will hold little more than tangential appeal. Perhaps, there will come a day when the Boss himself will write a memoir of sorts and his devoted following will have a better and more direct look at the inner most mind of the the rock musician himself. (And It wouldn't suck if Landau wrote a book about all the musicians he's worked with either. Jon ? )That said, the book is really a must for the fans who can afford it. There's nothing wrong with wearing your love for Bruce on your sleeve (or in this case your coffee table). And to be sure, the few essays that are in the book, which are penned by Springsteen himself, are thoughtful, earnest and intellingent as you might expect. Hey, it feels good to be a little a bit older. Be honest, doesn't it ? For lots of us, these really are Better Days. So if you can afford it, do yourself a favor and by this book. Spend some time with this art book that gives us some great images of Bruce. It isn't like images of Dylan and Guthrie aren't found in over sized photography coffee table books in book stores across the country.