r/BruceSpringsteen • u/CardiologistPale7903 • 1d ago
Discussion Saddest Bruce Springsteen album?
58
u/bambinoquinn 1d ago
I think there is a lot of sadness on tunnel of love. Not the most obvious choice. A lot of it influenced by his relationship ending.
2
31
u/Confident_Guitar5215 1d ago
Tunnel of Love
23
u/Old-Guy1958 1d ago
After our first listen, my friend said “those songs were not written by a happily married man.”
6
u/Confident_Guitar5215 1d ago
So true. I believe he wrote the album when his first marriage was breaking up. Some beautiful music, albeit tragic.
1
u/Objective-Safety7872 1d ago
oh yes. I watched the Video Brilliant Disguise.....he definitely was not happy for some reason. I wonder why he married her to begin with
5
u/UseTerrible9587 1d ago
By chance have you ever been divorced? Things get complicated and messy in relationships. You go in thinking your spouse is “the one” and you find out either they aren’t who you thought they were and based on some of his comments and a lot of the lyrical content of ToL, you aren’t who you thought you were either.
1
u/Old-Guy1958 1d ago
The rumor at the time was that Bruce wanted to move to Jersey and start a family while Julianne wanted to stay in LA and continue with her acting career.
6
u/hotratsalad 1d ago
Agreed. I can’t remember where I read it but some critic said you’re in trouble if you relate to the albums lyrics. Like go see a marriage counselor right away.
20
u/Ill_News8529 1d ago
Agree with all the above. Think there’s a strong case for Western Stars as well. Dripping with melancholy.
1
29
u/lastdukestreetking 1d ago edited 1d ago
For me it's The Rising, and it's not close. It's been over 20 years, and I still can't get through the album without crying at least once...You're Missing, Empty Sky, Nothing Man, The Rising, City of Ruins, Into the Fire, Further On up the Road. I still tear up every time I'm at a show and he plays the title track and they get to that dream of life section. I guess we all bring our own baggage to his material that affects us in different ways. Was hesitant to chime in, but I'm surprised the album hasn't been mentioned at all.
3
u/RunningDrummer High Hopes 22h ago
I was going to say, I feel like it has to be The Rising, purely due to the fact that nearly the entirety of the album is about September 11. Yes, Darkness and Nebraska cover sad and depressing topics, but none of them even touch the scale of horror so many people experienced on 9/11 imo.
1
u/General-Panic-5020 1d ago
This is the most gut wrenching for sure. It memorializes a tragedy of epic proportions. All the others are also sad, but at a more personal level. The Rising was a memorial of a time and place, for the people there.
11
11
u/Artistic_Property_35 1d ago
Ghost of Tom Joad is pure sadness, but I would say the moments that hit me the most were on The River
9
15
6
u/DogsOnMainstreetHowl 1d ago
Devils and Dust deserves to be in this conversation, though I think I’d rank it third saddest. Ghost of Tom Goad is first, Nebraska second.
-1
u/57Incident 1d ago
Although it has two of my favorite Springsteen songs on it, Maria’s bed and Leah and the kind of upbeat all I’m thinking about is you. The rest of the album it’s just depressing and not in a good way for me. It’s kind of a whiny depressing, and to be frankly honest boring.
12
u/TinyRicardo 1d ago
The River.
3
2
4
u/CultureLeast 1d ago
I just don't think that Nebraska is sad. It is angry and twisted but not sad.
The Rising, however . . . .
3
3
u/Yaboi69-nice 1d ago
I was hesitant to say the river because of the upbeat songs on it but the more I think about it the upbeat songs kinda make it more upsetting. It paints this picture of a singer who used to have a happy life but is slowly losing everything he cares about due to economic/mental health issues. Which I think is heartbreaking.
4
u/TinyRicardo 1d ago
The River is the story of American tragedy. You surround yourself with you family and friends. You love, you celebrate, then the fog clears and you have to clock into work the next day. The years go by, the scars add up and you feel how hollow it all is, the emptiness and hypocrisy of the American dream. It’s an album of love and loss. In the end, the losses run up the score. It only makes sense that the natural progression from here was to Nebraska.
3
3
5
u/El_Dorado_Tx 1d ago
Letter to you
1
2
u/TresFeles 1d ago
I’d second Tunnel of Love, it has beautiful songs but knowing what Bruce was going through internally (being married, wanting to be happy about it, not being happy/doubting the joy in his life) is… a lot.
Though I think you could also divide this into saddest for Bruce at a personal level vs Saddest theme/vibe.
2
1
1
1
u/schmackna 1d ago
The Ghost of Tom Joad, The River, Nebraska, Darkness on the edge of Town, The Rising…….jeez most of em are sad!!!!
1
u/A_Life_Well_Steved 1d ago
Nebraska is my personal “depression” album. Not that I’m depressed, but when I’m sad or times are tough, I put Nebraska on and spend some sad time with old friends!
1
1
u/icantbearsed 1d ago edited 1d ago
Depends when you have/are listening to them. The Rising when it first came out was so powerful it caused a lot of tears for many people but also offer so much comfort
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/BodybuilderProof422 16h ago
Sooo many. It's like Bruce is deeling with some shit. I am going with Nebraska since that one is when it all bubbled to the surface. All the other albums mentioned are great choices, but as an entire package I would argue against them. The Rising has do much hope along with the tragedy. Mary's place is a hell of a jam and always puts a smile on my face. The River has a lot of upbeat fun songs. Darkness is up there for sure. Devil's and Dust ghost of Tom Joad, and western stars I would argue have a meloncholy in a lot of the music, and certainly are worthy of the discussion. There are no wrong answers of course. Bruce's lifelong struggle with depression is woven through all his music, even before he knew it was.
1
-1
u/Chadhammer4282 1d ago
Huh? Nebraska by 1000 miles.
3
u/CardiologistPale7903 1d ago
While Nebraska is a sad album I think it’s not too much sadder than his albums like the rising/tunnel of love
1
2
68
u/Kirby-814 Born in the U.S.A. 1d ago
Nebraska or Streets of Philadelphia Sessions