The “F-Bomb” in Bruce Springsteen Lyrics

Although Bruce Springsteen is generally known for clean lyrics, he does occasionally use swear words. Perhaps because he rarely inserts the f-word or graphic imagery, when he does do so, the language usually has a special impact on the listener.

Some of the songs where Springsteen uses the f-word include “Long Time Comin’,”

Long Time Comin’

The first time Springsteen used the “f-word” in lyrics on an official record was in “Long Time Comin’,” which appeared on Devils & Dust (2005). “Long Time Comin'” is one of my favorite Springsteen songs and it makes effective use of one simple swear word.

Many think of Springsteen for his songs of youth and escape, but as he has aged the topics of many of his songs have matured with him. In “Long Time Comin’,” the adult singer remembers his own father not being around during the singer’s childhood as the singer reflects on his own family.

In one of Springsteen’s most beautiful lines, he notes that his one wish for his children is that they will make their own mistakes. As the Western-themed song closes, the young family is camping:

“Well there’s just a spark of a campfire left burnin’;
Two kids in a sleeping bag beside;
Reach ‘neath your shirt, put my hands across your belly
And feel another one kickin’ inside;
And I ain’t gonna fuck it up this time.”

The f-word comes out of nowhere, but it makes it all the more powerful because it is exactly how many men would describe the joy and fear of having a child. Perfect.

Queen of the Supermarket

Another recent song where Springsteen effectively drops the f-bomb is “Queen of the Supermarket,” which also may be one of Springsteen’s most hated songs. Still, others try to defend it. In the song from Working on a Dream (2009), the singer begins with the wonders of the modern grocery store:

There’s a wonderful world where all you desire,
And everything you’ve longed for is at your fingertips;
Where the bittersweet taste of life is at your lips,
Where aisles and aisles of dreams await you. . .

The opening reminds me of Don DeLillo’s great novel White Noise, where the character’s existential angst is reflected in the description of the modern supermarket, a place that takes an unusual role in modern people’s lives. Springsteen, however, goes from there into more typical Springsteen territory with the singer longing for one of the cashiers: “The way she moves behind the counter/Beneath her white apron her secret remains hers.”

While I understand why some people hate the song, it does capture a common human experience of seeing someone and for that moment feeling like you are falling in love. But what really saves the song for me, is the rare Springsteen f-bomb.

“As I lift my groceries in to my car,
I turn back for a moment and catch a smile
That blows this whole fucking place apart.”

As in “Long Time Comin’,” Springsteen saves the f-bomb for the end of the song for maximum effect, and it works here, expressing the depth of the singer’s feelings and making the song a highlight on the album. Again, if you are going to swear, you are much more effective if you save it for special occasions, and falling in love — or even obsession — is one of those occasions.

Harry’s Place

More recently, the f-word appeared in “Harry’s Place” from Springsteen’s 2014 album High Hopes. But the word in this song lacks the dramatic impact of the word’s use in other Springsteen songs and almost seems gratuitous: “You don’t fuck with Harry’s money, you don’t fuck Harry’s girls.”

There is nothing wrong with the lyrics of the song, it is just that the use of the f-word in “Harry’s Place” lacks the dramatic impact of his graphic words or imagery in other songs. But it is still a good song.

Other Dirty Springsteen Songs

Springsteen’s use of the f-bomb seems to be a more recent phenomena.  But he earlier had used other swear words in “The Big Payback,” a B-side and outtake from 1982’s Nebraska album.

Perhaps he became more comfortable with using the f-word in his art when, during his acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad tour in the mid-1990s, he regularly gave a semi-serious and semi-humorous suggestion that audience members tell chatty neighbors to “shut the f-up.” His comments led some to call the Tom Joad tour, the “Shut the F-Up Tour.”

In another unreleased song, Springsteen incorporated the f-word into the mostly spoken-word song, “Pilgrim in the Temple of Love.” Like “Long Time Comin’,” Springsteen performed the song during his solo Devils & Dust tour.

“Pilgrim in the Temple of Love” recounts a Christmas Eve visit to a strip club, ending with a drunken vomiting Santa who wishes everyone, “Merry Christmas to all you assholes/ And to all a good fucking night!” Below is a December 12, 1996 performance in Cincinnati, Ohio, featuring some additional swearing in the introduction.

“Pilgrim in the Temple of Love” is played for humorous effect, so the cursing serves that purpose. Yet, because of the humor in “Pilgrim in the Temple of Love,” the swearing does not give the surprise and depth as it does in “Long Time Comin'” and “Queen of the Supermarket.”

Springsteen has described sexual acts in songs without using swear words. For example, he sang about getting on your knees to taste a “Red-Headed Woman.”

Springsteen’s song that probably has the most graphic description of sex does not actually use the f-word. In “Reno,” off of Devils & Dust, the singer sings about an encounter with a prostitute. Several lines are graphic, including where the woman explains, “‘Two hundred dollars straight in/ Two-fifty up the ass’ she smiled and said.”

But unlike “Pilgrim in the Temple of Love,” the singer’s adventure in “Reno” is not for humor.  And it is one of Springsteen’s most heartbreaking and beautiful songs. As the sexual encounter begins, the singer thinks back to a lost love named Maria. By the end of the encounter with the nameless prostitute, he closes with lines so devastating, he does not need to add a curse word.

She brought me another whiskey,
Said “Here’s to the best you ever had.”
We laughed and made a toast;
It wasn’t the best I ever had;
Not even close.

Of course, a songwriter would not expect graphic songs or songs with swear words to get radio airplay.  Still, a songwriter could get by with merely using symbolic wordplay as in “Born to Run” (“Just wrap your legs ’round these velvet rims / And strap your hands ‘cross my engines”).

Perhaps Springsteen has loosened up as he has aged.  Or maybe he no longer worries about radio play due to the development of other avenues for accessing music through the Internet that do not require radio deejays or MTV.

Whatever the reason for the evolution in his lyrics, some of these songs from Springsteen’s most recent decade have revealed a songwriter’s skill continuing to explore effective ways to use language. Even if that language might get your mouth washed out with soap.

What is your favorite Springsteen lyric with a swear word? Leave your two cents in the comments. Photo via public domain.

(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)

Author: chimesfreedom

Editor-in-chief, New York. View all posts by chimesfreedom