Deeper Dozen - Bruce Springsteen

Having looked at the 'Essentials', the purpose of this list is to look at twelve tunes that are representative of the styles and sounds from Springsteen's career. In this spirit, there are omissions such as 'The Promised Land', I'm on Fire', 'Stolen Car', 'Tenth Avenue Freeze Out' to name a few that make way for arguably weaker songs in a valiant attempt to offer a compassionate view.

Rosalita (Come out tonight) - Featured on ‘The Wild, the Innocent and E Street Shuffle’, and a live favourite, this 7 minute rollercoaster encapsulates the looser sunshine infused rock-soul of the first two albums. Full of its own funky breaks, Rosalita gives a strong nod to the showmanship of some of the E-Street bands soul heroes.

Thunder Road - The opening track from ‘Born to Run’ has been described by Springsteen as the bands ‘invitation’ and the distinctive piano led introduction does just that, drawing you into the album with a romantic tale of breathtaking and potentially treacherous escape “take that long walk from your front porch to my front seat, the door is open but the ride it ain’t free”.

Badlands - It took three years to release the follow up to ‘Born to Run’, Springsteen’s time split between a lawsuit with former manager and producer Mike Appel, and long recording sessions in pursuit of a perfect record. The long gestation period was not a reflection on Springsteen’s productivity and is illustrated by ‘The Promise’ a 22 song set of outtakes and alternate versions that did not make the cut for what would become ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’. The opening track is a muscular, sweat, blood and guts rallying cry fuelled by the influence of punk - “I wanna find one face that ain’t looking through me, I wanna find one place, I wanna spit in the face of these - BADLANDS!”.

Darkness on the Edge of Town - The album, ’Darkness on the Edge of Town’ is raw and angry, stripped of the widescreen optimism of ‘Born to Run’. The essence of the record can be heard in the glorious closing volley that is its title track. The song communicates the precarious circumstances under which working class lives in America exist. It reveals the weight of one’s inner struggles and how sooner or later people “Cut it loose or let it drag ‘em down”. Springsteen inhabits his character which reverberates with every defiant exclamation “I’ll be on that hill with everything I got, lives on the line where dreams are found and lost”.

Hungry Heart - One of his ‘poppiest’ outings, ‘Hungry Heart’ gave Springsteen his first US hit. The track is great, infectious and, by his own admission, bears the influence of Smokey Robinson. The song can be found on ‘The River’, a sprawling double album, in stark contrast to the tight focus of its predecessor.

Nebraska - Springsteen sings this chilling tale from the perspective of a serial killer displaying no remorse for the crimes committed concluding that “there’s just a meanness in this world”. Despite recording the album with the E-Street band Springsteen returned to the stark solo demo versions of the songs as his follow up to ‘The River’. Understated and sombre Springsteen says of the songs that “They were restrained, still on the surface, with a world of moral ambiguity and unease below”.

Cover Me - Springsteen's return to the E-Street band heralds the most mainstream and bombastic record of his career in ‘Born in the USA’. After the fist pumping and commonly misunderstood title track, the electric pace continues with the searing "Cover Me", one of 7 singles from the album!

One Step Up - It is hard to believe that the songs on 'Tunnel of Love' are not an insight into Springsteen’s state of mind at the time (his first marriage ended shortly after the album was released). Here he deliberates with excruciating clarity on the state of his relationship (“She ain’t looking too married, me, honey I’m pretending”) and his own self worth (“I don’t see the man I wanted to be”).

Better Days - Recorded without the E-Street band Springsteen released two mixed albums in 1992, ‘Human Touch’ and the stronger ‘Lucky Town’. ‘Better Days’ is drawn from the latter and is somewhat of an antidote to the darker ruminating found on ‘Tunnel of Love’. Now with Patti Scialfa, this is a rousing coming of age love song “I got a new suit of clothes a pretty red rose and a woman I can call my friend”.

Ghost of Tom Joad - Following the award winning 'Streets of Philadelphia' (at number 2 it was his highest charting UK single) and a brief dalliance with the E Street band for the 'Greatest Hits', another solo album followed in 1995. In the mould of ‘Nebraska’ with the stories set in the nineties 'The Ghost of Tom Joad' is subtle and acoustic led. The original version of the title track outweighs the rocked up E-Street band and Tom Morello take that appears on 'High Hopes'.

You’re Missing - A standout from ‘The Rising’, this sombre song places us vividly in the home of someone presumed lost during 9/11. It describes in moving detail the unimaginable shock and loss that would have been experienced by those left behind by the tragic events of that day - “Everything is everything but You’re Missing.”.

Devils and Dust - Title track and lead single, ‘Devils and Dust’ is written from the perspective of a service man fighting in the Iraq war. The song builds and swells around a lyric that sees the soldier fighting with his conscience - “I'm just trying to survive, What if what you do to survive kills the things you love.”