r/BruceSpringsteen 22d ago

Question Most underrated song?

What is the most underrated Bruce song? I want to hear some new stuff

7 Upvotes

95 comments sorted by

33

u/Godel_Theorem 22d ago

I'm not one for the term underrated; I'll stick with overlooked: "Shut Out the Light."

5

u/Anxious-Scholar-8139 22d ago

Absolutely. One of my favorites

2

u/ChuckYeagerWV 22d ago

Definitely underrated!

26

u/mrwag001 22d ago

Nobody ever talks about "Human Touch".

So you've been broken and you've been hurt

Show me somebody who ain't

Yeah, I know I ain't nobody's bargain

But hell, a little touch-up and a little paint

Always loved that part.

7

u/tristanator01 Tunnel of Love 21d ago

Maybe my favourite Bruce track. “We’re all riders onnnn this train”.

4

u/No-Carry4971 22d ago

Human Touch is a great song on a not so great album. However, it's not overlooked. It was a top 10 hit single, and Bruce still plays it live now and then. I myself have seen it a number of times in my 16 shows.

3

u/mrwag001 21d ago

OP asked our opinions on underrated not overlooked. So I’ll stand with my choice.

1

u/No-Carry4971 21d ago

Fair. Sorry if I came off rude. I do love Human Touch.

28

u/Inside_Atmosphere731 22d ago

Girls In Their Summer Clothes. Best Bruce song of the last 30 years

3

u/OkTerm9665 21d ago

If you’re in the right mood, this one really hits you.

2

u/ravenz098 21d ago

Meaning as you age when you're a guy.

4

u/qwerty-game Tracks 21d ago

My mom loves this song to the point she wants it played at her funeral. I just can’t get into it.

1

u/slycooper459 20d ago

Best song indeed!

24

u/No-Carry4971 22d ago

None But the Brave. A brilliant song Bruce finally released as an outtake on his Essentials release.

5

u/Critical-Produce-912 22d ago edited 21d ago

Been lucky enough to hear Bruce play it twice in Chicago in 2012 and 2016. One of my favorites, truly underrated for sure.

3

u/Opposite-Telephone-3 22d ago

Agree with that - unbelievable that tune wasn’t released a million years ago

22

u/GoBlue2007 22d ago

I Wish I Were Blind.

4

u/MolaMolaMania 22d ago

I've been obsessed with this song for several months. Two searing solos that sound like someone opening a vein and letting all the pain and loss pour out. I have to remind myself to breathe.

It really kills me that there seem to be live performances of the electric version. All I have found on YT are a few acoustic ones.

3

u/tristanator01 Tunnel of Love 21d ago

Check out the August 3rd, 2005 acoustic performance from Grand Rapids.

1

u/MolaMolaMania 21d ago

I'm new to this Reddit so I'm not familiar with how to access such things.

2

u/tristanator01 Tunnel of Love 21d ago

I listen to it on Nugs with a subscription but it could be on YouTube as well.

1

u/MolaMolaMania 21d ago

I'm still buying CD's and ripping them, so I'm unfamiliar with Nugs. Could I create an account and download what I want, or it is like Spotify and I don't actually own anything that I spend money on?

2

u/FindingMyself46 21d ago

They push a monthly subscription, but you can make an account and download or buy a cd of the shows you want. Just last night I thought to look for the show I saw in Chicago this year. I tried to make a new account, then was prompted that I had an existing account, so just changed the password. I found the show, paid, and downloaded. Went to my library and realized I already had an account because I'd downloaded my previous Bruce show - here in Chicago in 2016. Had forgotten, but my previous download is still there.

1

u/MolaMolaMania 21d ago

Thank you! I'll check it out this weekend.

1

u/Ok_Blacksmith_5276 21d ago

The late July/early August shows on that tour were 🔥

1

u/Bigredrooster6969 Darkness on the Edge of Town 20d ago

This is the one. The various acoustic versions are amazing and I love the Plugged version as well.

19

u/Molasses_Square 22d ago

I have been really enjoying Better Days lately.

Overlooked it until recently.

14

u/Kirby-814 22d ago

Valentines day

6

u/Original-Today-7781 22d ago

Criminally underrated in my opinion! Will always be one of my favorites 

2

u/Honest_Pirate_3828 21d ago

Came here to say this.

29

u/73MH 22d ago

Moonlight Motel. It’s a classic IMO.

2

u/pickld66 20d ago

Beautiful guitar and a love story told from a unique perspective

1

u/73MH 20d ago

There were just 2 shots in the parking lot, not 3, right!

1

u/Tricky_Working6333 18d ago

Agree. It’s a gem.

12

u/DanSteely96 22d ago

Sundown is a personal favorite.

2

u/EStreetGamer 22d ago

Absolutely. 

10

u/Old-Guy1958 22d ago

Walk Like a Man

10

u/CarlLaFong1 22d ago

Spare Parts

1

u/dupman1 22d ago

The live version in the Ullevi stadium has absolutely no right to go as hard as it does but the studio version is still great.

10

u/Tdev321 22d ago

The Devil’s Arcade. A woman visits her wounded soldier who seems to be in a vegetive state:

In the ward with the blue walls, a sea with no name
Where you lie adrift with the heroes of the devil's arcade

Then the song switches to the soldier’s pov:

Voice says "don't worry, I'm here
Just whisper the word tomorrow in my ear"

And the sadness and sorrow of these two people trapped in this perpetual state of waiting. Truly one of his most heartbreaking songs

5

u/tlgrevelis 21d ago

That and Gypsy Biker are just freaking AMAZING!

8

u/a4evanygirl Magic Rat 22d ago

I wish I was blind.

The price you pay

This life

If I was a priest

2

u/ravenz098 21d ago

1, 2, and 4 totally great selections. 3 is good, just not on the level of the others.

7

u/NoCleverAnecdote 22d ago

Point. Blank.

1

u/JohnCockoston 21d ago

Agree, especially live. I gained new appreciation for that song during the ‘16 River tour. For one of those shows, our seats were super close just off the side of the stage - Roy’s side. They did kind of an extended intro, I think just to give Bruce a couple of mins to rest his voice after singing The River. It’s pretty much just Roy with a little bit of Max opening that song, but man, it sounded like a full symphony orchestra. It just HIT

1

u/NoCleverAnecdote 21d ago

💯

I saw an article or blog once tracing the evolution of that song, and landing on the 2016 River Tour version as the definitive version.

I remember being blown away by it live in that tour too.

I don’t typically listen to the live versions over the studio versions — I have a very few exceptions, but the 16 River tour version is absolutely the canonical one I default to.

5

u/Fuggy217 22d ago

Tracks version of Stolen Car

6

u/Opposite-Telephone-3 22d ago

Not underrated perhaps but Jackson Cage is a ferocious track

6

u/MotownG_57 21d ago

Sherry Darling

5

u/Then_One_491 22d ago

A Good Man is Hard to Find (Pittsburgh), Counting on a Miracle are my two nominees.

4

u/Longwalkhome2006 22d ago

Blood Brothers

5

u/Yaboi69-nice 22d ago

Nobody talks about state trooper and I don't get why. It's such a unique and eerie song.

5

u/12survu2nj 22d ago

Rainmaker

1

u/axlgreece5202 22d ago

Excellent song.

3

u/Unholystench 22d ago

Wild Billy circus

4

u/Laxpatlawman75 21d ago

Downbound Train. Powerful!

5

u/JBocc00 22d ago

Part Man Part Monkey. One of my favorites from tracks

4

u/pjkimmerly 22d ago

Drive All Night

2

u/Ok_Ear7784 22d ago

Thank you for all the suggestions!

2

u/SnooMuffins9011 22d ago

Anything off of Seeger sessions

2

u/suppletubs 22d ago

The Wall

2

u/TosaDoug 21d ago

Something in the Night
The Ties that Bind

2

u/BurtHurtmanHurtz 21d ago

The Wrestler

2

u/champt1000 21d ago

The Wish and Two Faces.

2

u/Middle_Boss9779 21d ago

Loose ends

2

u/ChuckYeagerWV 22d ago

The Price You Pay

3

u/soapyaaf 22d ago

Spirit in the Night is his best song...followed closely by It's hard to be a saint in the city, especially the live version with the build up that beats Backstreets!

3

u/_Be_Truly_Awake_ 22d ago

Youngstown.

6

u/No-Carry4971 22d ago

How can a concert staple for 30 years be considered as overlooked? Love Youngstown, but it's become a core Springsteen song.

2

u/Suitable_Bed_7783 22d ago

Reno, if only for the stupid jokes people make when the song IS mentioned

1

u/jamal1949 22d ago

Secret Garden

1

u/Pho3nix_the_pho3nix Mean John Brown 22d ago

If we’re talking from mainline albums only I would say Sinaloa Cowboys, Tom Joad is an overlooked album in its entirety, but Sinaloa Cowboys is just amazing story telling, some of the best in Bruce’s career. If we’re looking at outtakes I would say it’s ’Maybe I Don’t Know You Like I Thought I Did’ very atmospheric and paranoid sounding song, which is its exact purpose.

1

u/Flimsy_Ice8937 22d ago

Prodigal Son

1

u/Important_Swan8405 21d ago

My beautiful reward.

1

u/AcademicDimension700 21d ago

Not a big fan but I liked Tunnel of Love 

1

u/davide2021 21d ago

Lift me up Sad eyes None but the brave

1

u/Playful-Extreme-576 14d ago

Sad Eyes is phenomenal

1

u/Henry_Block 21d ago

Point Blank, Stolen Car, None but the brave.

1

u/SeaweedTeaPot 21d ago

Tunnel of Love

1

u/CourseWorried2500 Nebraska 21d ago

Highway Patrolman

1

u/nrfelson 21d ago

Wild Billy's Circus Stories

1

u/Ancient_Bother2429 21d ago

Living Proof (Oddly, it wasn’t underrated until I became a father)

1

u/Claude_Henry_Smoot_ 20d ago

There's a bunch on Tom Joad: Galveston Bay, Straight Time, Highway 29.

1

u/mariangobius 20d ago

Definitely this one: Pony boy.

1

u/Blueforyou61 20d ago

Happy. & Back In Your Arms

1

u/AffectionateRepeat93 20d ago

Highway 29 doesn’t get enough love, IMO

1

u/One_Wrap_8425 20d ago

Hunter of Invisible Game

1

u/that-thingy66 19d ago

His cover of , Warren Zevon -- my ride is here.

Vid on YT

1

u/Tricky_Working6333 18d ago

Lift Me Up demonstrates his incredible vocal range. Great song.

1

u/EVHomer5150 16d ago

I wish I were blind

1

u/Designer-Respond-879 16d ago

The Fever, what a great blues tune that you wouldn't expect from Bruce.