For many, success is achieved through college. For others, it’s defined by a guitar in their hands.
Rock idol Bruce Springsteen opted out of the factory-working life that many of his peers followed and tapped into the vibrant interracial music scene of gritty Asbury Park, New Jersey, instead. The child of a lower-class family and a loner in school, it wasn’t until this moment that his talent began to truly spark attention.
By using his music to discuss the animosity and disconnection that many felt during the 1970s–a time of high unemployment and industrial decline–his art deeply resonated with many working-class Americans. His rise to rock fame is largely a result of how he offered a way for many Americans to feel understood again.
In a later interview with the Rolling Stone, Springsteen said, “I don’t think the American Dream was that everyone was going to make it or that everyone was going to make a billion dollars … but it was that everyone was going to have an opportunity and the chance to live a life with some decency and a chance for some self-respect.”
Let’s take a second to thank Bruce for making us all feel a little more special, because baby, we were born to run!
