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Magic in the Night: The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen
The definitive look at The Boss and how his music has both shaped and confronted American mythology
Emerging on the music scene with 1973's "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.", Bruce Springsteen was heralded as "the future of rock and roll", and since then his influence and popularity have exploded. Rob Kirkpatrick's Magic in the Night uses Springsteen's biography as a lens through which listeners can reevaluate his music as he morphs from "the next Bob Dylan" to a Reagan-era pop culture icon, and again to today's populist voice, discussing each album in chronological order. Kirkpatrick's keen insights show why the classic 1975 album "Born to Run" is the most popular album of all time (according to a recent ZagatSurvey ) and what's made Springsteen the most respected and influential artist in rock music.
Though his career has been widely documented, Springsteen fans have never had a book like this one, which lets them immerse themselves in his music and learn about his influences, lyrical choices, and the themes Springsteen has been drawn to again and again in his career. Kirkpatrick's in-depth analysis of Springsteen's work–even unreleased songs–and the political controversies surrounding it make Magic in the Night a must for any true Springsteen fan.
Emerging on the music scene with 1973's "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.", Bruce Springsteen was heralded as "the future of rock and roll", and since then his influence and popularity have exploded. Rob Kirkpatrick's Magic in the Night uses Springsteen's biography as a lens through which listeners can reevaluate his music as he morphs from "the next Bob Dylan" to a Reagan-era pop culture icon, and again to today's populist voice, discussing each album in chronological order. Kirkpatrick's keen insights show why the classic 1975 album "Born to Run" is the most popular album of all time (according to a recent ZagatSurvey ) and what's made Springsteen the most respected and influential artist in rock music.
Though his career has been widely documented, Springsteen fans have never had a book like this one, which lets them immerse themselves in his music and learn about his influences, lyrical choices, and the themes Springsteen has been drawn to again and again in his career. Kirkpatrick's in-depth analysis of Springsteen's work–even unreleased songs–and the political controversies surrounding it make Magic in the Night a must for any true Springsteen fan.
- GenresMusicNonfiction
288 pages, Paperback
First published March 3, 2009
2 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Rob Kirkpatrick
51 books16 followersROB KIRKPATRICK is the author of 1969: The Year Everything Changed (Skyhorse Publishing), Magic in the Night: The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen (St. Martin’s Griffin) and Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators: The War-Torn History of an All-Star Shortstop (Bison Books/University of Nebraska Press). He also edited The Quotable Sixties, and his creative writing has been published by Aethlon and Slow Trains.
As an editor for more than a decade, he has published such titles as Mark Oliver Everett’s Things the Grandchildren Should Know, John Hemingway’s Strange Tribe: A Family Memoir, G. Franco and Gwen Romagnolis’ Italy, the Romagnoli Way, Linda Cohn’s Cohn-Head: A No-Holds-Barred Account of Breaking Into the Boys’ Club, Phil Pepe’s The Ballad of Billy and George: The Tempestuous Baseball Marriage of Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner, Vincent Cannato’s The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York, Mark K. Updegrove’s Baptism by Fire: Eight Presidents Who Took Office in Times of Crisis, Alex Storozynski’s The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution, Timothy M. Gay’s Tris Speaker: The Rough-and-Tumble Life of a Baseball Legend, John Pahigian’s The Ultimate Minor League Road Trip and 101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out, Sean Lahman’s The Pro Football Historical Abstract, Mickey Bradley and Dan Gordon’s Haunted Baseball: Ghosts, Curses, Legends, & Eerie Events, and The Devil’s Diaries. He also conceived of and published multivolume reference sets including the Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History and the Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures.
Rob received his B.A. from Rutgers University, his M.A. from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and his PhD. from Binghamton University. He is graduate of the Denver Publishing Institute and also spent a summer studying at the FAMU in Prague. He taught writing and literature courses on the college level for four years and currently is a Senior Editor with Thomas Dunne Books. In his “free time,” he enjoys yoga and plays on the Bridgeport Orators Vintage Base Ball team. Rob lives in Rye, New York.
Rob Kirkpatrick is represented by Joy Tutela of the David Black Literary Agency.
Contact Rob at rob@robkirkpatrick.com.
As an editor for more than a decade, he has published such titles as Mark Oliver Everett’s Things the Grandchildren Should Know, John Hemingway’s Strange Tribe: A Family Memoir, G. Franco and Gwen Romagnolis’ Italy, the Romagnoli Way, Linda Cohn’s Cohn-Head: A No-Holds-Barred Account of Breaking Into the Boys’ Club, Phil Pepe’s The Ballad of Billy and George: The Tempestuous Baseball Marriage of Billy Martin and George Steinbrenner, Vincent Cannato’s The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York, Mark K. Updegrove’s Baptism by Fire: Eight Presidents Who Took Office in Times of Crisis, Alex Storozynski’s The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution, Timothy M. Gay’s Tris Speaker: The Rough-and-Tumble Life of a Baseball Legend, John Pahigian’s The Ultimate Minor League Road Trip and 101 Baseball Places to See Before You Strike Out, Sean Lahman’s The Pro Football Historical Abstract, Mickey Bradley and Dan Gordon’s Haunted Baseball: Ghosts, Curses, Legends, & Eerie Events, and The Devil’s Diaries. He also conceived of and published multivolume reference sets including the Greenwood Encyclopedia of Rock History and the Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures.
Rob received his B.A. from Rutgers University, his M.A. from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and his PhD. from Binghamton University. He is graduate of the Denver Publishing Institute and also spent a summer studying at the FAMU in Prague. He taught writing and literature courses on the college level for four years and currently is a Senior Editor with Thomas Dunne Books. In his “free time,” he enjoys yoga and plays on the Bridgeport Orators Vintage Base Ball team. Rob lives in Rye, New York.
Rob Kirkpatrick is represented by Joy Tutela of the David Black Literary Agency.
Contact Rob at rob@robkirkpatrick.com.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 14, 2009
Like Dylan and the Stones, the Beatles and Bowie, so many biographies have been written about Bruce Springsteen that — barring some crucial shift in context that would warrant the writing of an altogether new life story — books that concentrate on a particular aspect of his craft have become more prevalent in recent years.
One of the newer ones, Magic in the Night: The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen, sets its focus on the Boss’ songwriting. While author Rob Kirkpatrick does an adequate job of identifying major and recurrent themes in Springsteen’s works, his assessments seem derivative and compulsory or — when not backed up by one of his many cited sources — contrived.
Surveying each of Springsteen’s albums in chronological order — from 1972’s Greetings From Asbury Park through 2007’s Magic — Kirkpatrick delivers a condensed account of their writing and recording, now and then injecting an innocuous opinion or side-note anecdote respective to the album at hand. There aren’t any notable revelations here and any fresh insight to be gleaned would most likely come from a more qualified source rather than from the author, who frequently renders his subject and occasionally his work in a condescending light.
The most frustrating part of Kirkpatrick’s examination of Springsteen’s work, though, lay in his comparative scrutiny of songs that have yet to see the proverbial light of day. Now, most Springsteen fans know that a treasure trove of unreleased material is locked in the vaults and that Tracks barely scratched its surface. Knowing such material exists, though, is different than knowing its specific contents.
Point blank, for those serious enough about Bruce Springsteen’s songwriting or career in general, there is no shortage of compelling and comprehensive books available at your local library or bookstore; this one just isn’t among them. While Rob Kirkpatrick lays out a solid premise and expounds on a few thematic tendencies in Magic in the Night: The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen, his uninspired and often patronizing analysis does nothing to serve that objective.
One of the newer ones, Magic in the Night: The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen, sets its focus on the Boss’ songwriting. While author Rob Kirkpatrick does an adequate job of identifying major and recurrent themes in Springsteen’s works, his assessments seem derivative and compulsory or — when not backed up by one of his many cited sources — contrived.
Surveying each of Springsteen’s albums in chronological order — from 1972’s Greetings From Asbury Park through 2007’s Magic — Kirkpatrick delivers a condensed account of their writing and recording, now and then injecting an innocuous opinion or side-note anecdote respective to the album at hand. There aren’t any notable revelations here and any fresh insight to be gleaned would most likely come from a more qualified source rather than from the author, who frequently renders his subject and occasionally his work in a condescending light.
The most frustrating part of Kirkpatrick’s examination of Springsteen’s work, though, lay in his comparative scrutiny of songs that have yet to see the proverbial light of day. Now, most Springsteen fans know that a treasure trove of unreleased material is locked in the vaults and that Tracks barely scratched its surface. Knowing such material exists, though, is different than knowing its specific contents.
Point blank, for those serious enough about Bruce Springsteen’s songwriting or career in general, there is no shortage of compelling and comprehensive books available at your local library or bookstore; this one just isn’t among them. While Rob Kirkpatrick lays out a solid premise and expounds on a few thematic tendencies in Magic in the Night: The Words and Music of Bruce Springsteen, his uninspired and often patronizing analysis does nothing to serve that objective.
July 27, 2010
The book read like a term paper complete with bibliography and footnotes, but a must read for true Springsteen fans. The author breaks down each album and goes into detail about the songs, the writing, what was going on w/ Bruce at the time of recording.
August 26, 2013
Se me ha hecho lento, larguísimo y aburrido. Me faltan datos y me sobran las opiniones personales del autor. ¿Dónde está Nils?, ¿dónde quedan las aportaciones de Steven al 'Born To Run'?
Para mi gusto está muy incompleto y es bastante insulso.
Para mi gusto está muy incompleto y es bastante insulso.
December 28, 2010
It was alright.
October 30, 2015
Typical, but still good, biography and discography. I learned some things about the lawsuit and the MUSE shows. But, there were several typos, including beef rather than beer flowing from a faucet.
May 31, 2016
Insubstantial but enjoyable enough review of Springsteen's albums up to Working On A Dream.
March 6, 2023
I don’t even like Bruce Springsteen.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews