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Bruce Springsteen Quotes (1949-)

Writer, Poet, Singer

About Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born 23 September 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has released 20 studio albums, many of which feature his backing band the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is one of the originators of the heartland rock style of music, combining mainstream rock musical style with narrative songs about working class American life. During a career that has spanned six decades, Springsteen has become known for his poetic, socially conscious lyrics and energetic stage performances, sometimes lasting up to four hours in length. He has been nicknamed "the Boss".

Best Bruce Springsteen Quotes

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Explore our curated collection of the most famous and impactful Bruce Springsteen quotes.

“Come on, rise up! Come on, rise up!”
“The wise men were all fools, what to do?”
Bruce Springsteen
“Blind faith in your leaders, or in anything, will get you killed.”
“Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse?”
“Spare parts
And broken hearts
Keep the world turnin' around.”
“You ride in a limousine the first time, it’s a big thrill but after that it’s just a stupid car.”
- Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Springsteen Talking
“There ain't a note that I play on stage that can’t be traced back directly to my mother and father.”
- Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Springsteen Talking
“Mama always told me not to look into the eyes of the sun.
But Mama, that's where the fun is ...”
“We're here to re-dedicate you to The Power, The Passion, The Mystery, and The Ministry of Rock and Roll.”
“Here everybody has a neighbor,
Everybody has a friend.
Everybody has a reason to begin again.”
“In the third grade a nun stuffed me in a garbage can under her desk because she said that’s where I belonged.”
- Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Springsteen Talking
“For the ones who had a notion,
A notion deep inside,
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive.”
“Music was my way of keeping people from looking through and around me. I wanted the heavies to know I was around.”
“When they built you brother, they turned this dust to gold.
When they built you brother, they broke the mold.”
“I catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would.
Man turns his back on his family well he just ain't no good.”
Bruce Springsteen
“The first day I can remember looking into a mirror and being able to stand what I saw was the day I had a guitar in my hand.”
- Bruce Springsteen, Bruce Springsteen Talking
Bruce Springsteen
“Now you play the loving woman;
I'll play the faithful man.
But just don't look too close into the palm of my hand.”
Bruce Springsteen
“This music is forever for me. It's the stage thing, that rush moment that you live for. It never lasts, but that's what you live for.”
Bruce Springsteen
“I've seen strong hearts give way
To the burdens of the day,
To the weary hands of time
Where fortune is not kind.”
Bruce Springsteen
“And your strength is devastating in the face of all these odds.
Remember how I kept you waiting when it was my turn to be the god.”
Bruce Springsteen
“Tonight our bed is cold;
I'm lost in the darkness of our love.
God have mercy on the man
Who doubts what he's sure of.”
Bruce Springsteen
“May your strength give us strength.
May your faith give us faith.
May your hope give us hope.
May your love give us love.”
Bruce Springsteen
“Your success story is a bigger story than whatever you’re trying to say on stage... Success makes life easier. It doesn’t make living easier.”
Bruce Springsteen
“Come on up for the rising.
Come on up, lay your hands in mine.
Come on up for the rising.
Come on up for the rising tonight.”
Bruce Springsteen
“Well let there be sunlight, let there be rain.
Let the brokenhearted love again.
Sherry we can run with our arms open before the tide”

Bruce Springsteen Quotes by Topic

Find exactly what you are looking for by browsing this categorized list of Bruce Springsteen quotes by topic.

Bruce Springsteen on Cadillac 4 quotes

“Cadillac, Cadillac Long and dark shiny and black Open up your engines, let 'em roar Tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur”
Bruce Springsteen
View all 4 quotes on Cadillac →

Bruce Springsteen on Dreams

“Is a dream a lie if it don't come true Or is it something worse?”
Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen on Vietnam War

“Got in a little hometown jam So they put a rifle in my hand Sent me off to a foreign land To go and kill the yellow man”
Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Springsteen on Watergate scandal

“I think what's happening now is people want to forget. There was Vietnam, there was Watergate, there was Iran – we were beaten, we were hustled, and then we were humiliated. And I think people got a need to feel good about the country they live in. But what's happening, I think, is that that need – which is a good thing – is gettin' manipulated and exploited. And you see the Reagan reelection ads on TV – you know: "It's morning in America." And you say, well, it's not morning in Pittsburgh. It's not morning above 125th Street in New York. It's midnight, and, like, there's a bad moon risin'. And that's why when Reagan mentioned my name in New Jersey, I felt it was another manipulation, and I had to disassociate myself from the president's kind words.”
Bruce Springsteen

What Bruce Springsteen Said About Others

Discover personal opinions Bruce Springsteen shared regarding contemporaries.

Bruce Springsteen on Bob Dylan

“Dylan was a revolutionary. Bob freed your mind the way Elvis freed your body. ... To this day, wherever great rock music is being made, there is the shadow of Bob Dylan.”
Bruce Springsteen

Quotes About Bruce Springsteen

Gain deeper perspective through quotes about Bruce Springsteen from others.

Jeff Baxter on Bruce Springsteen

“I think music changed when Bruce Springsteen came on the scene. I think if it wasn't for Bruce Springsteen, we may have gone in a very scary direction. We may have gotten to the point where disco music ruled and I would have had to quit.”

Bono on Bruce Springsteen 5 quotes

“Here was a dude who carried himself like Brando, Dylan, and Elvis. If John Steinbeck could sing, if Van Morrison could ride a Harley-Davidson. But he was something new, too. He was the first whiff of Scorsese, the first hint of Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, and the Clash. He was the end of long hair, brown rice and bell bottoms. It was the end of the 20-minute drum solo. It was good night, Haight-Ashbury; hello, Asbury Park.”
Bruce Springsteen
View all 5 quotes on Bono →

Barbara Ehrenreich on Bruce Springsteen

“The label of liberalism is hardly a sentence to public igominy: otherwise Bruce Springsteen would still be rehabilitating used Cadillacs in Asbury Park and Jane Fonda, for all we know, would be just another overweight housewife.”
Bruce Springsteen

Brandon Flowers on Bruce Springsteen

“I couldn't believe how happy his music made me and how good it was. He's a gift, and I didn't know. I mean, I knew 'Born in the USA' and 'Glory Days,' but I didn't know that he covered so much ground, and there was something in his music that touched what I was going through, the process of falling back in love with my America.”
Bruce Springsteen

Van Jones on Bruce Springsteen

“Bruce Springsteen put it best in 2004 when he said: "America is not always right. That's a fairy tale for children.... But one thing America should always be is true. And it's in seeking her truth, both the good and the bad, that we find a deeper patriotism, that we find a more authentic experience as citizens, that we find the power that is embedded only in truth to change our world for the better."”
Bruce Springsteen

Jon Landau on Bruce Springsteen

“Last Thursday, at the Harvard Square theatre, I saw my rock'n'roll past flash before my eyes. And I saw something else: I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen. And on a night when I needed to feel young, he made me feel like I was hearing music for the very first time.”

Bruce McCulloch on Bruce Springsteen

“Our love is like a Bruce Springsteen concert. It's not that great, it's really long. But wow! What energy.”

About Bruce Springsteen

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born 23 September 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has released 20 studio albums, many of which feature his backing band the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is one of the originators of the heartland rock style of music, combining mainstream rock musical style with narrative songs about working class American life. During a career that has spanned six decades, Springsteen has become known for his poetic, socially conscious lyrics and energetic stage performances, sometimes lasting up to four hours in length. He has been nicknamed "the Boss".

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