I remember reading Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography when it first came out. I don’t remember listening to the audiobook. It was in my library, though, and I decided I wanted to hear the stories with Springsteen’s emotion behind them. What’s also nice is there are a number of moments in the audiobook that also include Springsteen’s music.

Springsteen’s story isn’t just his story, it’s the story of millions of baby-boomers around the world who lived through those years after the war in working-class communities around the birth of rock & roll. It’s the story of someone who heard magic the first time he heard Elvis Presley and The Beatles. It’s the story of someone who was immersed in the blue-collar world of factories and hard-working men and women, even if he never works a “real job” in his entire life.

Springsteen was raised in a close, working-class family in Freehold, NJ. No family is perfect, and Springsteen certainly suffered from fractured family dynamics. As he got older, he realized that many of the same demons that plagued his father also were present in him and prevented him from having long-term relationships. His honesty about a more recent (to when this was published) bout of depression made me realize I was suffering once again from something I thought had been under control and reach out for help.

Springsteen is honest in his book. He puts everything out there, faults and all. He doesn’t try to excuse his foibles and tells the reason for everything he decided along the way. I enjoyed hearing about the early years of his career, when everything seemed to be a struggle. After all he talked about over the last few years of being “The Last Man Standing” of his first band, The Castiles, it was nice to go back and hear about those days all over again.

His rock through everything has been Patti. He credits her love and honesty for keeping him together and making him the man he is today. She made him a better parent and was there for him when the demons inside him were getting the better of him. He takes responsibility for the failure of his first marriage. Julianne was not the woman he needed, especially at that time in his life, and though he loved her they were not right for each other. Instead of facing that, he hid from it until it came out in a very public way.

The musical end of it is also interesting, as readers (or listers) will be immersed in what goes into recording an album. He details how he decides what songs will go on an album and the production involved in it. I learned where and when the Tracks songs came from. I learned just how important having the right producer can be. Although he’s called “The Boss” he actually listens to a lot of what he’s told by the people in his inner circle, such as Jon Landau and Steve van Zandt.

Springsteen is very articulate, which is surprising coming from someone who barely graduated high school. It’s obvious that type of structured education didn’t work for him, and once he had the desire to learn more on his own, he became a voracious reader. It’s said that his mother (may she rest in peace) wanted him to become an author. I can see why. She must have seen his ability with words early on and imagined the possibilities. He is very empathic too, as he writes songs of lives he can only imagine. He sees people and their struggle and can put that into a song, as well as develop mini stories about their lives.

I think even people who aren’t as devotes a fan of Springsteen as I can enjoy Born to Run. It’s more than just his story, it’s an American story. 

“Writing about yourself is a funny business. At the end of the day it’s just another story, the story you’ve chosen about the events in your life. I haven’t told you “all” about myself. Discretion and the feelings of others don’t allow it.”