"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 | Heartland rock | |||
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, that was the then-record-tying seventh and last top 10 single to come from it, peaking at #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. [2] 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). [3]
Cash Box called it a "tender and somber look at the real American hometown" that is "evocative in rare way." [4] Billboard called it a "contemplative, insightful single." [5]
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: [7]
The E Street Band
Chart (1986) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Singles Chart | 47 |
Canada (RPM Magazine) [8] | 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) [9] | Gold | 35,000‡ |
Canada (Music Canada) [10] | Gold | 50,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [11] | Silver | 250,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [12] | Platinum | 1,000,000‡ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
Darkness on the Edge of Town is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on June 2, 1978, by Columbia Records. The album was recorded after a series of legal disputes between Springsteen and his former manager Mike Appel, during sessions in New York City with the E Street Band from June 1977 to March 1978. Springsteen and Jon Landau co-produced, with assistance from bandmate Steven Van Zandt.
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"Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" is a Christmas song featuring Santa Claus, written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie, and first recorded by Harry Reser and His Band. 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, 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 a lot of 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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"Fade Away" is a 1980 song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen, accompanied by the E Street Band. It is included on his album The River, and the second single released from it in the United States, reaching the top twenty in both the United States and Canada.
"The River" is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen, accompanied by the E Street Band, in 1979. The title track of his fifth album, it was a hit single in parts of Europe in 1981; reaching No.24 in Ireland, No. 25 in the Netherlands, and the top 10 in both Sweden and Norway. Its B-side was either "Independence Day" or "Ramrod", depending on the country of release.
"Brilliant Disguise" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from his 1987 album Tunnel of Love. It was released as the first single from the album, reaching the No. 5 position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock chart in the United States. The follow-up single, "Tunnel of Love", also reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, giving Springsteen two consecutive No. 1's. The single reached the top 10 in four additional countries including Canada and Ireland and the top 20 in Australia, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. "Brilliant Disguise" was nominated for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 1988 Grammy Awards.
"Tunnel of Love" is the title song by Bruce Springsteen from his 1987 Tunnel of Love album. It was released as the second single from the album, reaching number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Like the first single from the album, "Brilliant Disguise", "Tunnel of Love" reached number one on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and reached the top twenty in Canada peaking at number seventeen. The music video received five MTV Video Music Awards nominations, including Video of the Year and Best Male Video.
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The mill was referred to in the Bruce Springsteen song My Hometown; Mr. Springsteen's father worked there for a time. ...