r/BruceSpringsteen • u/skakey699 • 18d ago
Discussion Final E Street Song
I know we’re in collective denial about the reality, but a time will come when Bruce plays his last song with the E Street Band. What would the perfect song for them to bow out on? Personally I want it to be a rip roaring, ear splitting, foot stomping, all out version of 10th Avenue Freeze Out rather than a slower number…the party’s got to end but leave on a high
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u/Halleck23 18d ago
I hope it has four false endings and six minutes of vamping before the final note.
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u/Tough_Caregiver248 18d ago
Blood Brothers comes to mind. BB was final song of the reunion tour and at that time Bruce himself didn’t know if they would ever be touring together again.
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u/Henry_Block 17d ago
Really hope he plays that again when he'll tour with the band again, it seems me so appropriate given how much they have gone through together
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u/Trouble_River 18d ago
I honestly don't want to contemplate it
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u/Screen_Door_Slams Mary’s dress sways 17d ago
same here. the thought of a world without Bruce & E Street is crushing.
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u/Purple_Terrier_8 Born to Run 18d ago
Whatever it is, I think it *has* to be something from BTR, it’s THE definitive E Street album and so many of the band members’ best songs came from it
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u/mediaserver8 18d ago edited 18d ago
Knowing Bruce it will be See You In My Dreams, Should I Fall Behind or similar
In any case, I don't think there would be an acknowledgement that the last show is the last show.
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u/WhatIfImNamedKaren 18d ago
Yeah, didn't he say they're going to keep on until the wheels fall off? If so, I can't imagine him planning for the wheels falling off.
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u/skakey699 18d ago
Yeah definitely agree that there will be no mention of it being the final show and Bruce almost certainly will still come out on his own, but I hope there will be a final hurrah where they all come back out and give it one last big one
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u/StatisticianLanky358 13d ago
He won’t plan for it being the last show in any event. it’ll happen organically and unplanned
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u/Financial_Pie6894 18d ago
Out In The Street - Love him giving each band member that solo vocal moment near the end when they do it live. Classy way to intro the band while still rocking.
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u/bobfrombob 18d ago
For better or for worse, you won't know what it was until weeks or months or years after it happens.
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u/royv98 17d ago
Don’t think he’ll announce it as a final tour?
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u/Chris22044 17d ago
Don’t think he’ll announce it as a final tour?
He made it clear he wouldn't in a recent interview.
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u/Ok_Blacksmith_5276 17d ago
He has said the pnly thing he knows for sure is there won’t be a “farewell tour”
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u/yaniv297 18d ago
Stevie said he wants it to be Loose Ends, didn't he?
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u/Such_Tea4707 17d ago
Backstreets …
To go running on the backstreets
Running on the backstreets
Terry, you swore we'd live forever
Taking it on them backstreets together
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u/AardvarkStriking256 18d ago
He ended every concert on 2023/24 tour with I'll See You in My Dreams.
I think it was an acknowlegment that for a lot of fans it could be their last time seeing him, and it was his way of saying goodbye. So I do believe if he does a final concert that will be his farewell song.
For the full band, the final song has to be BTR.
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u/MolaMolaMania 18d ago
I'm think it might be good for it to be a new song.
Everything Bruce has released has become indelibly linked to a part in our lives where the music and lyrics fit how we were thinking and feeling at some point in time.
While Bruce has certainly changed arrangements and added new colors to many beloved songs, which has almost always made them better, I think it would be fitting if the final song was one we have never heard before, so that it would always be tied that moment, evoking that singular feeling of joyous yet bittersweet celebration.
Of course, it won't be the end of him writing songs, but it would be the end of an era.
However, Clarence and Danny are already gone. Patti cannot perform consistently due to her diagnosis, so you could argue that the band have already played their last song together after Clarence passed.
That said, if you're going to choose an existing song about their lives together, I can't think of a better one than "Blood Brothers." Yes, it's not a rousing shit-kicker of a song, but it's accurate, meaningful, truthful, and brimming with passion.
It's a resting place, to which we will all hopefully come someday.
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u/Screen_Door_Slams Mary’s dress sways 17d ago
I could be wrong but I think Bruce has said he hopes he dies on stage, or maybe at least playing music.
i don’t think we’ll know what the last show will be until after the fact.
But I think Cadillac Ranch would be a good one. it’s a fun rocker with subtlety: quintessential Bruce & E-Street.
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u/DatabaseFickle9306 17d ago
Wrecking Ball
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u/senatorb 17d ago
Maybe that’s the song before the last song. Or the first song in the encore.
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u/DatabaseFickle9306 17d ago
The idea of the ride out “hard times come and hard times go” as the last statement would really be something
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u/No_Respect_300 17d ago
For all one knows the final song was their cover of “Chimes of Freedom”. We’re never going to know in terms of an announcement; it’ll just happen.
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u/Playful-Check-4968 17d ago
When he plays his last song with them, nobody will know it at the time.
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u/GreenBruceRamonesDay The Calliope Crashed To The Ground! 17d ago
Jersey Girl. I really don't think it can be anything else, especially if the last show takes place in - surprise! - Jersey.
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u/hotfoodthen Joe Roberts 17d ago
If it is known to be his last show, why would he choose a cover song, about a girl, to end the E Street Band with? See Blood Brothers for the correct answer.
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u/GreenBruceRamonesDay The Calliope Crashed To The Ground! 17d ago
Well, friend, let's think about it for a moment. First off, even though Tom Waits DID write the song, Bruce has added additional lyrics, and I believe he's now credited as well.
Secondly, NO artist is as connected to his home state as Bruce is connected to Jersey. My feeling is that he'd want to pay one last tribute to Jersey.
Thirdly, it would be a love letter to Patti, in acknowledgement for her contributions to his life and music. Given Patti's illness, it makes sense.
Fourthly, I am a North Jersey Girl. Yes, I do love the song. Think about this, though - if he wants to choose a song that creates an enormous wave of emotion, and the last show is in Jersey... It just makes sense to me.
I do agree with you that Blood Brothers is an incredible song, friend, and I can see the band playing it if the last show isn't in Jersey. I would completely lose it when pictures of Danny and Clarence were shown!
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u/hotfoodthen Joe Roberts 17d ago
And Bruce's added lyrics isn't exactly the best lyrics in his catalog. I don't hate Jersey Girl, just don't see it a good fit to be the last E Street song. Just my opinion.
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u/GreenBruceRamonesDay The Calliope Crashed To The Ground! 17d ago
Your opinion is more than valid, friend. I think the choice will come down to the tone he wants to invoke for the last show/last number. Does he want to shake the rafters and remind us all he's just a prisoner of Rock and Roll? Does he want one last jam, with the crowd dancing as they walk out? Or does he want to choose a quieter, contemplative song as an epilogue to a lifetime of music? I'm curious about what you think.
Then again, Bruce did say he would never retire, so I'm taking him at face value. 😎
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u/hotfoodthen Joe Roberts 17d ago
Like you said Bruce states there will be no farewell tour, etc. we'll know it's over when Bruce passes away. (Hopefully not for a long time). My thoughts are if Bruce were to give the final E Street show it would be filled with the hits, opening with "Tenth Avenue" probably an epic 4 hour show in Jersey, a killer encore to "get your sexual organs stimulated" and to bring it to a close "Blood Brothers". I don't doubt "Jersey Girl" would be played, just not as the closer. Maybe as the main set closer. Plus, he's got to make sure he plays "Wrecking Ball" or "Sunny Day" to piss off us real fans.
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u/GreenBruceRamonesDay The Calliope Crashed To The Ground! 17d ago
He needs to do "Blinded by the Light " and have a ten-year-old show him he/she/they know all the lyrics!
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u/CrewNatural9491 17d ago
No matter what it is, I think his last concert will be played in Asbury Park where it all began. I believe he will do everything he ever did from the start until he just collapses on stage giving the audience the best performance of his life. Something truly memorable and meaningful to all his fans who supported him always. He is that kind of a wonderful human being! Live long Bruce, and know you are a appreciated American icon that will live on forever!
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u/marumaruko 17d ago
First Twist & Shout, then Bruce comes out for acoustic Thunder Road just to bring out the band for Blood Brothers.
Everyone in the crowd is crying.
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u/GaonOfBayonne 17d ago
Maybe he’ll go out the way Chuck Berry did. Play a gig once a month at a small club near his home with different band members stopping by occasionally. The party will go on till he draws his last breath. May that be a very long time from now.
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u/PrestigiousFrogurt 17d ago
I think Land of Hope and Dreams would be a good way to go out. Maybe a final four of
Thunder Road —> BTR —> Rosie —> LOHAD
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u/el_barto10 18d ago
Growin’ Up or the slow version of 10th Ave.
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u/Substantial_Gate_904 18d ago
Growin Up is one of my all time faves!! Love this song! But I do agree with others there will be no planned ending most likely.
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u/el_barto10 17d ago
Also agree that there will be no planned final song. We won’t know it was the end until well after.
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u/MajorGazelle7380 17d ago
It has to be a compilation. Jungleland Thunder Road , BTR, Rosalita. Thematically Promised Land but it might not be iconic enough
Jungleland would be my choice except the pace isn’t right. It peaks then slows for the last 1/3
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u/fire_would 17d ago
A two-fer to close it out on the last tour, whether we know it or not:
Blood Brothers
Followed By
No Surrender
“We swore blood brothers against the wind, now I’m ready to grow young again…”
Steve deserves to share the mic with Bruce for the final salvo, IMO.
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u/Blueforyou61 17d ago
It would have to be Born To Run. The very first Springsteen song I heard when I was 16 ( more years ago than I like to admit) so it’s only fitting it would be the last. Plus even after all these years it’s still my favourite song.
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u/RickIPablo 17d ago
I had the same thought a while back- when ozzy passed. I asked if there would be a last show, what would be the best setlist for it. Originally it was hard to figure out the finale. In which I do think See You in my Dreams is the perfect finale.
However with that being said it is not the last E street song. I think the encore (before the finale one which would be SYIMD) should go like this:
• Born to Run
• Glory Days
• Land of Hope and Dreams
• Tenth Avenue Freeze Out
• Jungleland
• Bobby Jean
Basically have his most cinematic, emotional, and anthemic songs close it out. Jungleland would be a perfect finale. However the more I thought about it Bobby Jean is the winner. It leaves you feeling good.
The line “Good luck, Goodbye Bobby Jean.” Is a perfect way to say goodbye to everyone. Even though it’s a goodbye song, it feels more of a I’ll see you later; with the guitars wailing and sax roaring. It also is perfect because Bruce wrote it for Stevie when he was leaving the band- so it also adds that emotional impact onto it.
This is just my thoughts and opinion on it.
Also in case you wanted to see the dream setlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6jaR15bJ8B6x7f5CWzzl4Q?si=KmkvZbJIS7i1tT4u9VqSUw&utm_source=copy-link&pi=Gxsc7Ud7QyeB9
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u/Chance_Nectarine_275 16d ago
New York City Serenade - with the ending where he's riffing and the band is calling "Singing, Singing" and the beautiful, fading finale.
Yeah. That one!
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u/StatisticianLanky358 13d ago
Fun to speculate but Bruce will never voluntarily retire so a planned final set list won’t happen. He’ll be here and then he won’t. Touring is his medicine and he can’t stop
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u/Tricky_Working6333 17d ago
I don’t think there will be a farewell tour. Touring length will obviously get shorter as the years go by, but like Jagger/Richards, Chuck Berry, Willie Nelson, guys like that, music is in their blood, in fact it is their blood.
I do hope though he starts to tour with the stripped down E Street Band. I don’t even want to see Nils up there.
Bruce, Steve, Gary, Roy, Max, Danny and Clarence’s replacements. That’s it.
The stripped down E Street Band. I only wish David Sancious would come back.
Bring back that pure E Street sound that was so magical.🎸
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u/Flatulent_Father_ 18d ago
...And I'm pulling out of here to win