Sharp Notes Monday: ‘Racing in the Street’

By Jandoli Institute on September 23, 2024 • ( 0 )

By Richard Lee

Bruce Springsteen turns 75 today.

Onstage, he still displays the energy he had when he was in his mid-twenties. Musically, his recent compositions show a growing awareness of aging and mortality. Just listen to “Ghosts” and other tracks from Letter for You, his most recent album of new material.

In 2009 when Springsteen was approaching the age of 60, I took part in a Springsteen symposium at Monmouth University and attended a panel titled “The Aging of E Street Nation.”

Since aging was not yet a topic Springsteen addressed in his songs, the panelists looked at his lyrics for clues for how he would approach growing older. The lyrics that stuck with me from that session were a few lines from “Racing in the Street.”

Now some guys they just give up living
And start dying little by little, piece by piece
Some guys come home from work and wash up
And go racin’ in the street

Although Springsteen did not write those words about growing old, they paint a picture of the choices that confront us as we age. Some people burn out of jobs or relationships. Others, like the character in “Glory Days,” live in the past — and the lyrics of that song tell us the young Springsteen didn’t want to dwell on the past when he grew older

I hope when I get old I don’t sit around thinking about it
Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture
a little of the glory of, well time slips away
and leaves you with nothing mister but
boring stories of glory days

These are the people who Springsteen says “just give up living and start dying little by little, piece by piece.” At the opposite side of the spectrum are folks who “come home from work and wash up and go racin’ in the street.”

Again, Springsteen did not write those words about growing old, but one of beauties of song is that each listener experiences the lyrics in his or her own way.

The panelists at the Springsteen symposium may have been on to something when they discussed “ Racing in the Street.” In the 15 years that followed, Springsteen clearly has not given up living. Instead, he’s continued to make records and to tour. He wrote a book, did a Broadway play and partnered with former President Barack Obama on a series of podcasts.

I guess that’s what racing in the street means for Bruce Springsteen as he turns 75.

Richard Lee, executive director of the Jandoli Institute, is a former music journalist who often writes about the intersection of music and current events.

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