Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen is an American singer and songwriter who has released about twenty studio albums. He is known for his poetic lyrics and energetic performance and has been given the nickname The Boss. Over the past five decades, Springsteen has been recognized as one of the iconic figures in the music industry. His song Born To Run was almost the unofficial theme of New Jersey, let’s find out why that didn’t push through.
The New Jersey State Assembly voted to honor Bruce Springsteen’s song “Born to Run” by making it the official “rock theme song” of New Jersey until they found out that the song was actually about leaving New Jersey.
The Early Life of the Legendary Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen was born in Long Beach, New Jersey on September 23, 1949. He spent most of his childhood in Freehold, New Jersey with his parents and two younger sisters. His father, Douglas Springsteen, was a bus driver, but also held down other jobs to support his family. Throughout his life, he watched his father suffer from several mental health problems which worsened towards the latter years of his life. His mother, Adele, worked as a legal secretary and was considered the breadwinner of the family.
Springsteen was raised as a catholic. He attended the St. Rose of Lima Catholic School and was always in trouble with the nuns who ran the institution. In an interview, he mentions how catholicism influenced his music saying that his faith fave him an active spiritual life.
By the ninth grade, Springsteen moved to the Freehold Public High School, but he felt that he was a misfit there too. Teachers would recall him being quite introverted and just wanting to be alone with his guitar. He graduated in 1967 but felt so out of place that he skipped the ceremony altogether.
He attended Ocean Country College for a while but decided to drop out. He was called to join the Army in service for the Vietnam War, but he did not pass the physical exam. It is assumed that this is because of the motorcycle accident he got into when he was 17. Springsteen also showed crazy behavior that deemed him unfit. (Source: Entertainment)
Bruce Springsteen and His Love for New Jersey
Springsteen has always had a special place for his home state. This is evident in his first album: Greetings From Asbury Park, New Jersey. Without a doubt, he truly cherished his humble beginnings. When he reached the pinnacle of his career, the New Jersey State Assembly decided to honor him by naming him the New Jersey Pop Music Ambassador to America. Along with this is dubbing Born to Run the unofficial rock song of the state’s youth.
The entire concept was the idea of a DJ at 95.5 WPLJ-FM named Carol Miller. She explains how most of their listeners were from New Jersey and would often request Born to Run which she would jokingly say that it was the new state song.
Soon enough a petition began and the suggestion was raised to the New Jersey State Assembly.
Bruce is a New Jersey native. He often talks about how much he loves the state and, most importantly, it would make young people in the state believe in politics again. It would shed a better light on the political situation in New Jersey.
Robert Visotcky, Son of Assemblyman Richard Visotcky
Unfortunately, Born to Run was never officially made the state song. After the senators listened to the lyrics, they realized the song speaks about the desire to leave New Jersey. (Source: Ultimate Classic Rock)