"My Hometown" | ||||
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Single by Bruce Springsteen | ||||
from the album Born in the U.S.A. | ||||
B-side | "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" | |||
Released | November 21, 1985 | |||
Recorded | June 29, 1983 [1] | |||
Studio | Hit Factory, New York City | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:33 (album version) 4:10 (edit) | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bruce Springsteen | |||
Producer(s) |
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Bruce Springsteen singles chronology | ||||
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"My Hometown" is a single by Bruce Springsteen off his Born in the U.S.A. album as its closing track, that was the then-record-tying seventh and last top 10 single to come from it, peaking at #7 on the Cash Box Top 100 [4] and #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. It also topped the U.S. adult contemporary chart, making the song Springsteen's only #1 song on this chart to date. [5] The song is a synthesizer-based, low-tempo number that features Springsteen on vocals.
The song's lyrics begin with the speaker's memories of his father instilling pride in the family's hometown. While it first appears that the song will be a nostalgic look at the speaker's childhood, the song then goes on to describe the racial violence and economic depression that the speaker witnessed as an adolescent and a young adult. The song concludes with the speaker's reluctant proclamation that he plans to move his family out of the town, but not without first taking his own son on a drive and expressing the same community pride that was instilled in him by his father.
Some of the song's images reference the recent history of Springsteen's hometown Freehold Borough, New Jersey, in particular the racial strife in 1960s New Jersey and economic tensions from the same times (such as the "textile mill being closed" was the A & M Karagheusian Rug Mill at Center and Jackson Streets of Freehold). [6]
Cash Box called it a "tender and somber look at the real American hometown" that is "evocative in rare way." [7] Billboard called it a "contemplative, insightful single." [8]
The music video for "My Hometown" was a straightforward video filming of a performance of the song at a Springsteen and E Street Band concert late in the Born in the U.S.A. Tour, eschewing fast-paced cutting for slower montages of Springsteen and various band members. Despite its lack of visual excitement, it still managed substantial MTV airplay in late 1985 and early 1986.
The B-side of the single, "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town", was a semi-comical live recording of the Christmas favorite from a Springsteen and E Street Band concert on December 12, 1975, at C. W. Post College on Long Island, New York. Long familiar to Springsteen fans from its distribution years earlier to rock radio stations, it had previously been released on the fairly unknown 1981 children's album In Harmony 2 ; now in time for the Christmas season it was being issued again. Always a radio favorite, "Santa Claus" would benefit from the all-holiday-music-all-the-time formats of the 2000s, and during the 2005 holiday season "Santa Claus" would appear on the Billboard Top 40 Adult Recurrents and Hot Digital Songs charts.
According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: [10]
The E Street Band
Chart (1986) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Singles Chart | 47 |
Canada (RPM Magazine) [11] | 16 |
Irish Singles Chart | 6 |
Netherlands Music Chart | 24 |
New Zealand Music Chart | 28 |
Sweden Music Chart | 21 |
UK Singles Chart | 9 |
US Billboard Hot 100 | 6 |
US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) | 1 |
US Album Rock Tracks (Billboard) | 6 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [12] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
Canada (Music Canada) [13] | Gold | 50,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [14] | Silver | 250,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [15] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Born in the U.S.A. is the seventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on June 4, 1984, by Columbia Records. Produced by Springsteen, Jon Landau, Steven Van Zandt, and Chuck Plotkin, the album was recorded in New York City with the E Street Band over two years between January 1982 and March 1984. Some of the songs originated from the same demo tape that yielded Springsteen's previous album, the solo effort Nebraska (1982), while others were written after that album's release. The sessions yielded between 70 and 90 songs; some were released as B-sides, some later saw release on compilation albums, while others remain unreleased.
The River is the fifth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released as a double album on October 17, 1980, by Columbia Records. The album was Springsteen's attempt at making a record that captured the E Street Band's live sound. Co-produced by Springsteen, his manager Jon Landau, and bandmate Steven Van Zandt, the recording sessions lasted 18 months in New York City from March 1979 to August 1980. Springsteen originally planned to release a single LP, The Ties That Bind, in late 1979, before deciding it did not fit his vision and scrapped it. Over 50 songs were recorded; outtakes saw release as B-sides and later on compilation albums.
"Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas song written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, and first recorded by Harry Reser and His Orchestra. When it was covered by Eddie Cantor on his radio show in November 1934 it became a hit; within 24 hours, 500,000 copies of sheet music and more than 30,000 records were sold. The version for Bluebird Records by George Hall and His Orchestra was very popular in 1934 and reached the various charts of the day. The song has been recorded by over 200 artists including Mariah Carey, Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, the Crystals, Neil Diamond, Fred Astaire, Bruce Springsteen, Frank Sinatra, Mitch Miller, Boxcar Willie, Bill Evans, Chris Isaak, the Temptations, The Pointer Sisters, the Carpenters, Michael Bublé, Luis Miguel, Michael Bolton, jschlatt, and the Jackson 5.
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"Pink Cadillac" is a song by Bruce Springsteen released as the non-album B-side of "Dancing in the Dark" in 1984. The song received much airplay worldwide and appeared on the Billboard Top Tracks chart for 14 weeks, peaking at No. 27. The song was also a prominent concert number during Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. Tour.
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"One Step Up" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from his eighth studio album, Tunnel of Love (1987). It was released as the third single from the album, following "Brilliant Disguise" and the title track. It reached position #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart in the United States, and #23 in Canada. It also reached #2 on the U.S. Album Rock Tracks chart, giving Springsteen three straight top two tracks from the album. The song was only released as a single in America. One of the unreleased songs from 1980's The River, "Roulette", recorded April 3, 1979, was released as the b-side, using an alternate vocal mixed on April 12, 1980, that would also be used in 1998, when it was chosen for Tracks.
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...folk ballad
The mill was referred to in the Bruce Springsteen song My Hometown; Mr. Springsteen's father worked there for a time. ...