Every decade has its own king and queen ruling over its era of music.
Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin conquered the 1950s, Bob Dylan and Diana Ross reigned the 1960s and David Bowie and Donna Summer dominated the 1970s.
For the 1980s, it was Bruce Springsteen and Madonna we hailed as our musical saviors. So, when the former announced a new autobiography, fans were thrilled.
“Born to Run,” more than 500 pages of pure, unadulterated prose from “the Boss,” will be released on Sept. 27.
Such a massive length may be a happy surprise to most Springsteen fans. Despite his monumental success, he has always been a rather mysterious figure in the public eye. No scandals or horrendous deeds haunt this man. He’s simply Bruce — no more, no less.
However, in some recent interviews with CBS’s Sunday Morning and “Vanity Fair,” Springsteen has revealed that even “the Boss” is not impenetrable to demons.
For the past decade, Springsteen said he has been suffering from severe clinical depression. While never directly affecting his work, it was a personal hell that drilled him into one of the deepest holes of his almost 67-year life.
“It lasted for a long time — it would last for a year, and then it would slip away,” Springsteen said on Sunday Morning. “Then it would come back for a year and a half.”
Going even further back, Springsteen had an angry and abusive father who Springsteen claimed to have loved him as much as despise him. No doubt this influenced his paternal-like music and care for his fans.
On a lighter note, the book undoubtedly will contain hundreds of pages of content describing Springsteen’s iconic relationship with E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons, a talent who would put Bobby Keys to shame.
This could perhaps be the greatest rock autobiography to hit bookshelves since Bob Dylan’s “Chronicles: Volume One” or Keith Richards’s “Life.”
There are many rock stars who write memoirs and autobiographies as a sort of cash grab and typically don’t even write it themselves. Those usually turn out to be total gray or a blinding flood of deceitful neon.
We don’t expect that from Springsteen.
In fact, I think it would be impossible for the man to even conjure up such a loathsome idea.
Remember this is the man who voluntarily performs four hours a night at every single one of his concerts and enjoys every second of it.
If the book somehow isn’t enough, it will be preceded by a new compilation album by Springsteen called “Chapter and Verse” on Friday, Springsteen’s birthday.
The record will feature 18 handpicked, favorite songs from Springsteen, including five previously unreleased tracks from The Castiles, Steel Mill and the Bruce Springsteen Band.
In other words, Christmas is coming early this year, and we couldn’t have asked for a better gift.
Austin Faulds
afaulds@indiana.edu
@a_faulds9615
