Rolling Stone asked 50 artists for different kinds of musical lists, from Yoko Ono’s favorite John Lennon songs to Cee Lo’s favorite examples of southern hip-hop. Win Butler shared his favorite Bruce Springsteen songs with the magazine. Providing short explanations for each pick, as well as this intro:
This Bruce Springsteen list is a mix of his pop and not-pop songs. But I got into his albums in random order. I heard ‘Born in the U.S.A.’ on the radio when I was a kid. But it was after I moved to Montreal that I got into Bruce. It was the energy in Born To Run. Brendan Reed, who played drums in the original lineup of Arcade Fire, had that album. I’d heard Bruce’s music before, but I had never heard that record as a record.
Here’s his list:
14 “The Rising” (2000)
13 “Badlands” (1978)
12 “Born To Run” (1975)
11 “Thunder Road” (1975)
10 “Galveston Bay” (1995)
09 “Streets of Philadelphia” (1994)
08 “Tougher Than the Rest” (1987)
07 “Dancing in the Dark” (1984)
06 “I’m on Fire” (1984)
05 “Highway Patrolman” (1982)
04 “State Trooper” (1982)
03 “Atlantic City” (1982)
02 “Nebraska” (1982)
01 “Two Hearts” (1980)
Arcade Fire and Springsteen are mutual fans — Arcade Fire covered “Born In The U.S.A.” for Obama, Springsteen covered “Keep The Car Running,” and they appeared together on the cover of Spin.
[Photo by Elena Morelli]
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mine are in no order
1. The river
2. Point Blank
3. Radio Nowhere
4. The Rising
5. Darkness on the edge of town
6. Streets of Fire
7. Prove it All Night
8. Kitty’s Back
9. Ghost of Tom Joad
10. Thunder Road
11. Badlands
12. My City Ruins
13. Jungleland
14. No Surrender
Actually take out My City Ruins and put in Atlantic City
I do also love Streets of Philadelphia though
I know its a lot of replies I just love Bruce
hahaa.. Don’t we all?
i’m glad he’s not too cool to like the rising since that’s kind of a newer song
released in 2002 not 2000 btw
only 3 songs from 1978 and prior? WTF? uh, everybody knows his best material came out before the river (not that the river, nebraska, and BITUSA are bad, but stuff before it is generally better)
debatable. asbury park and the wild the innocent are sometimes thought of as his weakest records among even hardcore springsteen fans. personally, born to run and darkness are probably his sticking points for me, but the river, nebraska and bitusa are the solitfiers that make up the bulk of the best of his career. so really, giving win the benefit of the doubt that he wasn’t old enough to listen to those really early records, this list has an awesome credibility factor, especially since almost half of nebraska is represented.
the greatest thing about being a springsteen fan is that, every few years, he always manages to make it difficult for even the skeptics to categorize him as a has-been (streets of philadelphia, the seeger project, the wrestler), no matter how limp the majority of his recent stuff has been.
My selection:
15. Thundercrack (1974)
14. Reason To Believe (1982)
13. Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)
12. Tougher than the Rest (1987)
11. Youngstown (1995)
10. Im Going Down (1984)
9. The Rising (2002)
8. Jungleland (1975)
7. Johnny 99 (1982)
6. Because The Night (1978)
5. Thunder Road (1975)
4. Prove it all night (1978)
3. Glory Days (1948)
2. Born to Run (1975)
1. Badlands (1978)
Sooo happy to see “Two Hearts” at number 1! I love that song!
Just saw these guys at the O2 Arena. Win came onstage in a headband and shouted something about refineries before taking off his denim jacket. Gotta say… guy’s been working out…!
wow, he likes springsteen? never would have guessed.
From the looks of it, you’re a lot like me in that Nebraska is your favorite album.
You’ve got a good list and I love The Boss (actually, Steven Van Zandt is one of my heroes), though my recent blog entry calls into question the similarities between Springsteen’s “Radio nowhere” and Tommy Tutone’s “867-5309.”
http://themanfromthegarage.com/
I’m gonna chalk it up to coincidence or the subconscious.
I’m On Fire is a fantastic song. Arcade Fire also did pretty well here (http://www.spin.com/gallery/40-best-albums-2010) if you wanted to post this. Just letting you know its out.
Mine goes like this, although it’ll probably be different next week….
1.Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
2.Thunder Road
3. Atlantic City
4. Born To Run
5. Tougher Than The Rest
6. I’m On Fire
7. Racing In The Street
8. Darkness On The Edge Of Town
9. I’m Goin’ Down
10. Open All Night
11. Jungleland
12. The Promise
13. Sherry Darling
14. State Trooper
1) Atlantic City
Streets of Philadelphia
2) Badlands
3) Steets of Fire
4) I’m on Fire
5) My Father’s House
6) Born to Run
7) Hungry Heart
9) Backstreets
11) Cover Me
12) Nebraska
13) The Ghost of Tom Joad
14) World’s Apart
My Fathers House is one of my favourite Springsteen songs but it unfortunately doesn’t make my 14, amazing call though rskva.