http://joeposnanski....g-hall-of-fame/

 

Well, you might remember — and “might” is the key word since I did this a long time ago — I put up a survey asking people to vote for their favorite Bruce Springsteen songs so that we could start the Bruce Song Hall of Fame. This was a two step process. In the first step, I asked people to nominate songs which led to all sorts of mayhem where songs like “I Hate Bruce Springsteen” and “Jack Morris” were nominated. But about a thousand people participated and I put together a list of the 30 most mentioned Springsteen songs.

 

The second part involved people voting for their 10 favorite songs on the list, in order. More than 2,000 people voted. I have calculated the results using the accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers or, anyway, my own meager math skills — 10 points for every first place vote, nine points for every second-place vote, eight points for every third place vote and so on.

 

And so… without further delay … here in the first class of songs to be inducted into the Bruce Springsteen Hall of Fame. Induction day date and ceremonies will be announced in the future.

 

The five he chose:

 

Badlands

Jungleland

Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)

Thunder Road

Born To Run

By popular(?) demand, I hereby present the 30 best Bruce Springsteen songs ever, in order. This list is not negotiable, but feel free to comment

1. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
2. Jungleland
3. Darkness on the Edge of Town
4. Racing in the Streets
5. Backstreets
6. Badlands
7. Thunder Road & Born to Run (you almost have to rank them together, right?)
9. Incident on 57th Street
10. Streets of Philadelphia
11. The Promised Land
12. Atlantic City
13. Candy's Room
14. Out on the Street
15. I'm on Fire
16. The Rising
17. Adam Raised a Cain
18. 4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)
19. Growin' Up
20. Something in the Night
21. Lonesome Day
22. State Trooper
23. No Surrender
24. Hungry Heart
25. Night
26. Dancing in the Dark
27. For You
28. Lost in the Flood
29. Kitty's Back
30. Brilliant Disguise

*The River was left off of this accidentally. Stick it in around #12-13.

There are two kinds of people in this world - those who love Bruce Springsteen, and me.

I voted in this and had 3/5. Went with the River and incident over jungle land and Rosalita. Lo siento Pedrocito. I liked Rosalita a lot more about a decade ago. Jungleland has been climbing in my heart due to that Sax, but not a top 5er. Atlantic city and racing in the streets just miss.

Actually I think I had Atlantic City over badlands. Tough to remember when there are so many options.

I like Nebraska as a whole, but Jungleland is my favorite in the non-Born to Run category.

"Waste your summer praying in vain for a savior to rise from these streets"

Baltimore Orioles 1998-2011

There are two kinds of people in this world - those who love Bruce Springsteen, and me.

I'm with you

I'm with you

Your opinion on Springsteen is poor.

There are two kinds of people in this world - those who love Bruce Springsteen, and me.

I'm with you

Casey Kotchman LOVES the boss.

Your opinion on Springsteen is poor.

Maybe...but he's awful.

Rosalita in a landslide for me. One of my favorite songs by anyone.

Thunder Road is one of my favorite songs ever recorded and early Springsteen is phenomenal. I could take or leave his last 25 years of stuff though.

There are two kinds of people in this world - those who love Bruce Springsteen, and me.

 

I'm not a fan of his either.

Maybe...but he's awful.

 

Well, I know that you're not a music critic or anything, but how can you listen to a song like "Thunder Road" and say it's "awful"?  What about it is bad?

Early Bruce Springsteen is great.

Early Bruce Springsteen is great.

 

Yes, but "The Rising" is right there under the first four records, and is as good as "The River" and "Nebraska" IMO.

Other than MAYBE Dylan and MAYBE Lennon when he was high as a kite, did anyone do imagery better than The Boss?

 

"Barefoot girl sitting on the hood the Dodge, drinking warm beer in the soft summer rain."

 

Such a seemingly simple line, but so good.

I *think* that when people say they hate Springsteen, they really mean that they hate Born in the USA-era Springsteen.  I don't happen to agree with that, but I can understand it.  

 

But, if you think you hate Springsteen, you should really listen to his early stuff, or to The Rising, or even Wrecking Ball, and definitely to his live stuff, and see if that might change your mind.

 

Re the early stuff - just look at Posnanski's Hall of Fame - it's 1 song from his 2nd album, 3 from his 3rd, and 1 from his 4th.  Born in the USA was his 7th album, so there's a lot of great stuff that preceded that.