Bruce Springsteen - Highway 29

I saw a discussion around which Springsteen tracks would be considered underrated. This got me thinking and with not much else to listen to, as stated previously around new music and the start of the year, I went on a bit of a hunt. For me the answer would be Highway 29. From his understated masterpiece The Ghost of Tom, I've always thought his best tracks are his narrative songs and this is a collection of tales.

On this track he tells the tale of a petty criminal trying, without much success, to live a straight life in Highway 29. Part of Springsteen’s genius as a songwriter is his ear or capturing the nuances of everyday speech in much the same way as a novelist.

Highway 29 runs from Maryland to Florida and you know this one-night stand in the motel is not going to end happily for this latter-day Bonnie and Clyde. They rob a small-town bank before a car crash that ends in ‘a road full of broken glass and gasoline’ that might have done for the shoe-shopper. Cars feature heavily in Springsteen’s songs and the journey along Highway 29 ends in tragedy. This a quiet and potent song and for me one of Springsteen’s best.