“Jungleland” (Bruce Springsteen)

The final classic song with an emotional punch this week is the final track from Bruce Springsteen’s landmark 1975 Born to Run album, the truly epic “Jungleland.” This track was never released as a single but it didn’t need to be; it got tons of play on FM radio and remains a classic rock cornerstone to this day.

On an album full of standout tracks, “Jungleland” is the centerpiece. It is an even greater song than the career-defining “Born to Run,” a masterpiece of songwriting and performance. It tells a bleak story that pulls on your heartstrings; the downbeat, noirish ending leaves you emotionally spent yet wanting more.

“Jungleland” is a mix of prose and poetry, a kind of story song that tells a story of hope and desperation about the lower-class denizens of a nameless, faceless city. The protagonists are known only as the Magic Rat, an aspiring musician, and his paramour, the Barefoot Girl. They try to find love among the mean streets, only to have their dreams quashed. Springsteen’s lyrics are pure poetry, capturing a magic time in his career that married his early Dylanesque lyrics with his burgeoning Spector-influenced rock arrangements. The words evoke the pain and the heartache of the protagonists in a way that packs a powerful emotional punch.

Beneath the city two hearts beat
Soul engines running through a night so tender
In a bedroom locked
In whispers of soft refusal
And then surrender

In the tunnels uptown
The Rat’s own dream guns him down
As shots echo down them hallways in the night
No one watches when the ambulance pulls away

Or as the girl shuts out the bedroom light
Outside the street’s on fire
In a real death waltz
Between what’s flesh and what’s fantasy
And the poets down here
Don’t write nothing at all
They just stand back and let it all be

And in the quick of the night
They reach for their moment
And try to make an honest stand
But they wind up wounded
Not even dead
Tonight in Jungleland

“And the poets down here don’t write nothing at all, they just stand back and let it all be.” Pure poetry and one of the best lyrics in modern music.

The music itself is just as powerful as the lyrics. “Jungleland” comes off as nearly operatic, running 9 minutes and 33 seconds from start to finish. It starts with a lush string prelude, segues into Roy Bittan’s arpeggiated classical piano accompaniment, then bursts into a driving explosion of rock and roll power, propelled by Max Weinberg’s mighty drumming. The climax comes in Clarence Clemons’ bluesy two-and-a-half minute sax solo, after which the band brings it back down to a downbeat conclusion, capped off by Springsteen’s plaintive, wordless wailings. It is an emotional journey.

“Jungleland” stays mainly in C Major, utilizing I (C), iiim7 (Em7), IV (F), and V (G) chords. The bridge modulates to Bb but then we move up to Eb for the climax of the tune and down to F for the dénouement. It all flows naturally, Springsteen using the key changes to propel the song forward. There really isn’t a chorus, just a series of distinct sections smoothly flowing from one to another.

The “Jungleland” track on Born to Run took 19 months to create; the first rehearsal was on January 8, 1974 and the final overdubs weren’t completed until July 20, 1975. The final track drew on the combined talents of the recently-assembled classic version of the E Street Band: Clarence Clemons on that signature sax solo (some consider it the greatest sax solo on record), Roy Bittan on piano and organ, Gary Tallent on bass, and Mighty Max Weinberg on drums. Springsteen himself played guitar and short-time E Streeter Suki Lahav played the violin intro.

As much as I love “Born to Run,” “Thunder Road,” and other top-tier Springsteen tunes, “Jungleland” is the one that leaves a permanent mark. When you want a song that packs an emotional punch, that leaves you aching and close to tears, turn no further than the heartbreaking story of the Magic Rat and the Barefoot Girl. “Jungleland” is nothing less than pure rock and roll poetry.