“You've just seen...the heart-stopping, house-rocking, earth-quaking, booty-shaking, testifying, death-defying, legendary E…Street…Band!”

If you’ve ever attended one of their live shows, you would’ve heard some version of this declaration from Bruce and by the end you’d probably agree whole-heartedly. David Burghardt certainly did after his first concert, and 40 years later he’s still going back for more.

Like many fans, he cites their music—and one album in particular—as a lifeline in an especially trying time and a reminder to find joy even when life isn’t easy. Find out what lyrics he wrote in everyone’s high school yearbook, which foundational song Bruce refers to as “an invitation” (and how I happily discovered it about 30 years late), plus his admiration for Bruce's open discussion of his mental health struggles even as he consistently writes music that uplifts others.

David’s Personal Soundtrack:

• Thunder Road (from Born to Run album, 1975)
• Born to Run (from Born to Run album, 1975)
• Racing in the Street (from Darkness on the Edge of Town album, 1978)
• Tougher Than the Rest (from Tunnel of Love album, 1987)
• Jesus Was an Only Son (from Devils & Dust album, 1995)
• Rockaway the Days (from Tracks box set, 1998)
• Car Wash (from Tracks box set, 1998)
• The Rising (from The Rising album, 2002)
• My City of Ruins (from The Rising album, 2002)
• Land of Hope and Dreams (from Wrecking Ball album, 2012)

References:

• VH1 Storytellers - Bruce Springsteen
• The Seeger Sessions

Bruce Springsteen Official Website

Episode Music Credits:

• Intro: Great Great Lengths from Blue Dot Sessions
• Outro: Lamplist from Blue Dot Sessions