Asbury Park, New Jersey

Glory Days by Bruce Springsteen

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Now he just sits on a stool
Down at the Legion hall
But I can tell what's on his mind Read full Lyrics
Inherently, rock & roll is, always has been, and always will be the art form of fools. It's a good thing the world is full of fools, because rock & roll has developed quite a following over the past 70 years. With artists like Bruce Springsteen, it's very easy to see – and hear – why.

The genius of rock musicians is their ability to incorporate heavy themes and complex ideas in what is ultimately a very simplistic musical form. Most rock music is in the 4/4 time signature and follows a 1, 4, 5 chord progression (i.e., C, F, G) or a 1, minor 3, 4, 5 (C, A-min, F, G). Even the ones that don't are typically 3/4, 6/8, or cut-time. If you've never taken basic music theory, I suggest you read up on it. Or not.

Asbury Park boardwalk<br>Photo: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Asbury_Park_boardwalk_NJ6.jpg">Acroterion</a>, <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia CommonsAsbury Park boardwalk
Photo: Acroterion, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
"Glory Days," not unlike hundreds of other songs in which the singer attempts to remember, relive, or even recreate his youth, is a heavy theme told in a simple way. The Boss paints a picture through the lyrics in each verse of events that most likely happened to him. He speaks of old friends, old lovers, and Bruce's old man, who sleepwalk through their boring adult lives, constantly thinking, crying, and laughing about their "glory days."

We all have them. Glory days are our younger years when we had nothing more to worry about than having fun, picking up chicks (or guys), and studying for school. Little do we know when we are 15 what lies in store for us as adults, and even if an adult sat us down to tell us, we'd hardly believe. Bruce knows all about struggling as an adult to make it in the music business, just as I know about struggling to make it as a writer. Everybody has a dream, but not all of us achieve it.

Born in Long Branch, New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen never fit in and was deemed by teachers a loner who skipped out on his own graduation ceremony. Inspired by Elvis, he picked up his first guitar at the age of 13 and began playing local dive bars in North and Central Jersey throughout his teen years. His nickname, The Boss, was given to him by his bandmates in Earth because he constantly took the reins when it came to collecting and distributing their pay.

He gathered a cult-like following along the Jersey Shore towns including Asbury Park. The Monmouth county town is a seaside community that grew out of the roaring '20s boom through the creation of a Jersey Shore staple: The Boardwalk. Ocean cities up and down the coastline boast boardwalks big and small that house piers full of eateries (pizza, French fries, cotton candy, funnel cake, salt water taffy), games, and rides. Some of the more famous boardwalks are Seaside Heights, Wildwood, and Atlantic City.

Unfortunately, Asbury Park saw a steep decline in tourism and population during the 1970s and 1980s due to the development of other nearby communities. During the years in which Springsteen toured, the streets of the once prosperous beach town appeared vacant and dilapidated. It was perhaps this striking change of scenery that inspired him to write about growing up in the area during his own glory days.

Born in the USA was 1985's best-selling album, and along with Born to Run, Springsteen's most popular. The album features plenty of cuts any non-aficionado will recognize: "Dancing in the Dark," "I'm On Fire," the title track, and "Glory Days." Thematically, the album expresses the daily fight of the average citizen to achieve the American Dream, and stylistically it marked a departure from Springsteen's previous sound, as he utilized much more upbeat, radio-friendly songs that appealed to mainstream audiences across North America.

Both the public and critics received the album well and in the almost-30 years since, Born in the USA helped the success of heartland rock, in spite of the fact that the Boss isn't from the heartland. He paved the way for artists in the '80s and '90s, such as Mellencamp, Petty, and Seger. Bruce himself is quoted as saying [about the album], "Changed my life and gave me my largest audience. It forced me to question the way I presented my music and made me think harder about what I was doing."

Bruce Springsteen may miss his capricious youth along the Jersey Shore. He may or may not miss playing in dive bars up and down the coast. He probably misses his early career successes of Born to Run and touring with the E-Street Band. Regardless of how many Glory Days Bruce wishes he had back, one thing is certain, he has had one of the greatest rock and roll careers in history.

Justin Novelli
October 24, 2016
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