Music Watch: The Top 10 Springsteen Songs You've Never Heard

For all of Bruce Springsteen's (a.k.a. THE BOSS) accomplishments, perhaps the songs he is best known for are some of his worst (I'm talking to you Red Headed Woman).

Anyway, in between his acclaimed gems are the diamonds in the rough. As some of our readers may be aware, Springsteen's albums -- while not strictly concept albums -- followed a very similiar theme in each album he released, meaning that some of his best songs never made it onto the shelves. Did you know that "Born in the U.S.A." was a reject from his low-key acoustic Nebraska album? That is where I (and a large portion of his 1998 Tracks album) come into play.

First, lets set the ground rules: just because a song did not become a radio hit does not make it elidgeable for this list. If that were the case, than I'd have to include Atlantic City, Promised Land, Should I Fall Behind, or any song that made its way onto a greatest hits CD. Because any casual fan would know that "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" is to The Boss what "Panio Man" is to Billy Joel -- it is his signature concert anthem.

Despite being semi-familiar to casual Springsteen fans, some of his less popular (Nebraska) and later works (We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions) will be elidgible for this list. Songs from extremly popular albums such as Born to Run or Born in the U.S.A are less likely to be on the list, but don't expect to see a few outakes make the list.

Now introducing to you, the 10 best Springsteen songs that you've never heard:

10. Tie: Sherry Darling/Janey, Don't You Lose Heart/Be True -- Nothing like a feel-good romp to get the list started. I couldn't decide between the three -- all of which carry a bit of similarity -- so I decided to count them as one. Note, of the three, two were failed Born in the U.S.A. tracks and one (Sherry Darling) was featured on his 1980 album The River.







9. Restless Nights -- A track so rare that even YouTube doesn't have a clip of The Boss playing it, so we went with the next best thing, a cover. The Springsteen version is here in the link.



8. Empty Sky -- The Rising saw a plethora of critical acclaim and quickly rose to the top of the charts like no new Springsteen album in over a decade. But this is the digital era, and people mostly buy singles now, meaning that this track is usually the forgotten 9/11 track of the bunch.



7. Lost in the Flood/Spirit in the Night -- I could have entered several songs from his earlier work, but felt as though these songs embodied much of what he represented back then. Specifically, I chose "Lost in the Flood" because he had not performed the song for 20 years until he busted it out for the reunion tour in 1999 (last having played it in 1978).





6. Sad Eyes -- Another Tracks song, was a reject from his Human Touch album, arguably the worst of his career (only matched with another album that he released on the same day, Lucky Town). How this album found its way onto the cutting room floor is beyond me when listening to Human Touch.


5. Pay Me My Money Down/Erie Canal/Old Dan Tucker -- Playing with his folk band (The Seeger Sessions Band), Springsteen brought out his first and only cover album, using songs made famous by Pete Seeger. The album won a Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album yet went largely unnoticed by the public, selling only 700,000 copies. "Old Dan Tucker" is probably my favorite of the set, but Pay Me My Money Down features a video where Bruce dances like an old Jewish guy with a stiff back -- it is both sad and funny at the same time. Erie Canal leaves a haunting presence long after you've stopped listening.





4. Devils & Dust -- the title track to his 2004 folk album featured a plethora of heartfelt, ponient expressions of nuiance that became a critics darling. The album went on to win five Grammy Awards, including best rock album, but the song "Devils & Dust" is the true winner, winning Song of the Year. The song was written in 2003 as a protest to the Iraq War, about a soldier trying to survive and make sense of his role there. It is only at number four because it was so popular at the award shows, yet not a radio tune. The lyrics of this song are perhaps his best work since Born in the U.S.A. Here is the studio version that won the Grammy award for best long-form music video.

I got God on my side,
I'm just trying to survive -
What if, what you do to survive
Kills the things you love.
Fear's a powerful thing ...



3. Land of Hope and Dreams -- This song has never, repeat, never been featured on a studio album. The only time that this song has been recorded professionally was the Chimes of Freedom live album. It is similiar in content to "Promised Land" and tells of the promise of hope, the darkness of dispair, and the dream that is America. On the flip side, "American Skin (41 Shots)" details what is wrong with America. This version was also never a studio release, but it did make headlines.



2. Thundercrack -- A failed track from his The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, Thundercrack is a free-spirited rock song that will be played from time to time in concert. Here is a version from the mid-70s, notice the facial hair he was sporting back then... wow.



1. I Don't Want to Go Home -- This is one of those songs where you hear it for the first time and say to yourself, "What the hell? How did I live this long and not know that this song existed?!?!" Well, technically, it is not a Springsteen song but infact that of Southside Johnny and the Ashbury Jukes (Springsteen is from Ashbury Park, NJ). Not only did the two know each other, but the song was written by Steve Van Zandt, who played with Springsteen as a founding member of the E Street Band (even finishing "Born to Run" when Springsteen was in a musical rut) who left to found a new band. The result was one crazy night in Cleveland in 1978 when Springsteen made an appearence in a concert that would later become a live album. The result is a Springsteen song that even some serious fans may not know about.