How many times have you listened to a song and realised how moving or inspirational the lyrics are? There are so many songs that provide us with the tools to learn lessons we must learn in life, if we truly understand the lyrics. Personally, I tend to decide the quality of songs based on the musical elements rather the lyrics, so some awesome lyrics get missed by me. So, I’ve come up with an idea, to dissect songs from some of the best artists around to find the lessons within the music.
This is Musical Morals!
Today, to start with, I am going to look at Bruce Springsteen. The Boss is one of the my all-time favourite artists, and I’ve never really paid attention to the lyrics that much. Bruce’s music is all about the E Street Band and the musical elements, but he has written some really clever lyrics, that provide inspirational quotes and advice. I’m also going to be talking about some quotes from his autobiography, “Born to Run”, which is 100% worth reading whether you’re a huge fan or not. Anyway, let’s dig in!
QUOTES FROM SPRINGSTEEN’S SONGS
“Walk tall, or baby don’t walk at all” (from “New York City Serenade”)
This quote, to me, is all about not giving up and being strong. Hold your head high, believe in yourself and you will be okay. The thing I really like about this quote is that it implies that you must be strong, otherwise there is no point in even trying or continuing. When trying to achieve our dreams or live the life we want, there will always be obstacles in the way that we must overcome. Springsteen here is saying that you must know this before embarking on your journey and be willing to push through these obstacles. If you’re not willing to stay strong, don’t move to achieve your goals yet.
“One day we’ll look back on this, and it will all seem funny” (from “Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)”)
Things may seem bad now, but one day it will be far into the past and you will be happy. If you are going through a particular hardship at the moment (which I know many people are), it will get better. These hard times may teach you things you need to learn, or move you down the path you were meant to be on. One day, you’ll see that these hard times will be worth it and will be able to smile about these memories with your loved ones.
“No retreat baby, no surrender” (from “No Surrender”)
This quote is similar to the first one, but I think it is more direct in its message. Once you have committed to something, or are on a particular journey, don’t give up. You must keep going, no matter what. Springsteen refers to “soldiers in the winter’s night with a vow to defend” just before this lyric in the song, so like those soldiers, don’t retreat because you scared or things are getting difficult. Push through, don’t surrender.
“When it comes to luck you make your own” (from “Lucky Town”)
This, I recently learnt, is one of life’s great truths. You can’t rely purely on luck or on other people to move forward in life or get what you want. If you want something, you need to work hard to put yourself in the best possible scenario to achieve. For example, if you want a great job as a lawyer, this won’t just be handed to you. You need to work hard, get excellent grades at university, and network with people in order to have the best possible chance of getting that job. Things just don’t fall into your lap, unfortunately. But with a bit of hard work, you can have what you want. A very important lesson to learn.
QUOTES FROM SPRINGSTEEN’S “BORN TO RUN”
“Somebody who can reckon with the past, who can live with the past in the present, and move towards the future – that’s fabulous.”
“You’ve got to learn to live with what you can’t rise above”
I decided to put these two quotes together as I think they have a very similar message. These quotes from Springsteen are all about accepting your past and moving on. It is important to take what we have learnt from the past into the future, however we shouldn’t let past events or regret bog us down. We can’t change the past, but we can change the future. Thus, accept your mistakes of the past, learn from them, and create a future that you are proud of.
“No one you have been and no place you have gone ever leaves you. The new parts of you simply jump in the car and go along for the rest of the ride. The success of your journey and your destination all depend on who’s driving.”
Similarly to the previous quote, this is all about acceptance of your past. The people, places and events that have been a part of your life will always be there, as these are now a part of who you are. But, no matter what was in your past, you are in control of the direction of your life. Thus, you need to steer your life in the right direction. Don’t let people in your life or the past dictate where you are headed. Overall, you are truly in control of your own destiny.
“A time comes when you need to stop waiting for the man you want to become and start being the man you want to be.”
This is an extremely powerful quote to me. When I was researching quotes for this blog post, I found this quote and was shocked as to how relevant it is to my life at the moment. Basically, Springsteen is saying that you must take your life into your hands, and make progress towards your dreams. If you sit around and do nothing, waiting for the moment your life will change, nothing will happen. You need to take the steps yourself to creating your ideal life. For me, I have always wanted to have a blog or YouTube channel where I could share my thoughts and feelings on things I am passionate about. I finally realised, not too long ago, that I needed to just do it. Just start. I couldn’t keep waiting for the right moment, I needed to move towards my goal now. So, don’t be afraid to start now, and stop waiting for your dreams to come true. Only you can make these dreams a reality. Bruce even has a whole song on this topic, “Badlands”. Listen here.
So, that was Musical Morals! I think that Springsteen has some very poignant and inspirational quotes throughout his discography and his autobiography. I hope that you can take some of these quotes to help you get through life, motivate you to achieve your goals or just provide insight into your own life. You can use the images of each of these quotes to display in your home or on your devices!
Let me know down below which artist I should look at next for Musical Morals. I look forward to exploring some more quotes!
Have a great day gypsies,
