Bruce Springsteen vs. Donald Trump: 10 keys to the critical patriotism of the last legend of American rock 

Bruce Springsteen vs. Donald Trump: 10 keys to the critical patriotism of the last legend of American rock 

At 75, Bruce Springsteen is back in the spotlight. The American rock legend — who was born in New Jersey in 1949 — is currently on a European tour. A couple of weeks ago, he performed alongside Paul McCartney in Liverpool. And the Tracks II box set – featuring seven previously-unreleased albums that Springsteen recorded between 1983 and 2018 – was released on June 27.

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Country, rockabilly, mariachi and more music from the frontier

The release of Tracks II won't change our assessment of Bruce Springsteen's career, but it does help us understand it more precisely. The box set includes seven albums with 83 previously-unreleased songs. They were recorded between 1983 and 2018, but this chronology could be misleading. The truly substantial part begins after the 1992 misfires that were Human Touch and Lucky Town.  

We’re now hearing the songs that made up the artist’s search for alternative creative paths, as he attempted to revive his mature career. In his early-forties – after having already experienced his songwriting glory – Springsteen would explore other possibilities.

The cycle linked to Streets of Philadelphia (1993) – a song which occupies one of these recovered albums – led him back to composing works with contemporary themes, in a more pop-oriented vein. But we now know that he didn’t simply stick to one genre. While returning to acoustic and critical solitude in The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995), he ventured into country and rockabilly in Somewhere North of Nashville (2019). It's an example of his willingness to take risks, in order to become part of a North American musical tradition that he didn’t originally belong to. This created a new kind of genre altogether, which is even more evident in Springsteen’s following album, Inyo (2025). It's an album from the border, touching on Mexico, California and Texas. Mariachi bands can be heard, while the song titles are steeped in Chicano imagery.