Official launch of new song
It’s finally here! Springsteen’s new song, “Western Stars—Song,” is available now on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music.
The song itself is a little over three minutes long and will appear on his upcoming album of the same name. It conveys the theme of isolation in a world where ever-increasing connectivity seems to be the norm. The title refers to a movie called Western Stars which was released in July 2019. The movie deals with similar themes such as growing older and becoming increasingly disconnected from society in a changing age.
About the song
The 8-minute song, called “Western Stars”, draws from country and folk genres.
It is performed on guitar, piano, banjo and violin by Springsteen and is produced by Ron Aniello with co-production by Jon Landau.
“This record is a return to my solo recordings featuring character-driven songs and sweeping, cinematic orchestral arrangements,” Springsteen said in a statement.
“It’s a jewel box of a record.”
The inspiration behind the song
The song was inspired by a fan of Springsteen who wrote the singer a letter stating that he was a Vietnam War veteran struggling with PTSD. The songwriter was so moved by this letter that he decided to write about the man’s troubles, and decided to use his experiences as inspiration. The song is about how soldiers struggle with finding their place in society after returning from war.
Some behind-the-scenes making of the song
[Insert song name] was not an easy song to make. To understand how it came together, we bring you inside the recording process, itself a series of breakthroughs and setbacks.
In a creative process as collaborative as pop music, the first step is often the most difficult: We had to find some people who were willing to work with Bruce Springsteen. Luckily, a few friends were up for the challenge, so we set aside a week in December of 2019 at our favorite studio in New Jersey to try out some ideas and see if there was anything worth finishing. In addition to [insert bandmates’ names], I decided to invite my favorite session drummer from Nashville. We don’t have very many rules when we make music together—this is just one of those things that works for us for now—but having a good drummer is one thing that has never been negotiable. Unfortunately, he couldn’t make the trip out east because his mother had just been hospitalized with COVID-19 (the first case of coronavirus infection reported in North America). This was before anyone knew what an incredible catastrophe this would be for everyone across the world (myself included), but making music suddenly seemed like such a silly thing to do compared to trying our best not only to care for ourselves and our loved ones but also do our part as citizens by staying home and taking precautions against further spread of this horrible disease.
But none of us are superhuman; you can only go so long without making music before you start going crazy! After several weeks indoors listening only to old records and watching documentaries about Bob Dylan’s early years on YouTube, my friend suggested that we create something new while respecting social distancing guidelines (and self-isolating) by recording ourselves alone at home and then sending each other files back and forth over email until it sounded like something worth sharing with other people. This isn’t exactly how I would have wanted things done—I still think nothing matches making music with your
Reviews of the song
- “It’s definitely a Springsteen song. You can tell because of the lyrics and stuff.” – a fan
- “I don’t know if I like it but I think they tried something new and that’s good, right?” – another fan
- “This was not my favorite thing to do.” – an engineer from the recording studio
- “I didn’t love it but it wasn’t bad either. It was just kind of ‘there.'” – a radio station employee
Springsteen is a musical genius who will continue to surprise
Springsteen has been a musical genius for decades, and he’s not finished yet. This rock legend has been surprising and delighting fans for years, with new discoveries still being made about his body of work. Often referred to as “The Boss,” Bruce Springsteen is a musical genius who will continue to surprise.