. : : | THE BEST OF THE BOSS: MY FAVORITE SPRINGSTEEN SONGS | : : .

So yes, I'm in love with the Boss. I own every single studio CD from him, plus 2 compilations. I don't have the VERY rare bootlegs [E.G. War And Roses] so if you for some weird reason have one laying around in your room, I'll buy it from you.

Despite having approximately 17 hours, 13 minutes, and 15 seconds of the Boss, I have listened to every song at least 5 times [We have taken alot of roadtrips].
Some songs, like Born To Run, have been listened to 682 times, by my computer's count.

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After sorting through all his work, I have compiled a list of my favorite songs. It was very difficult to narrow down, but I finally managed to compact it to a reasonable 40 tracks.

I have presented it in as organized of a manner as I could while being totally excited about sharing this with the world. First is the song, then the album, the the year of the albums' release, although some songs were written long before that date [for example, Rendezvous was on Tracks, which was released in 1998, but the song was written earlier than even Born To Run].

Red stars, like this one [*] indicate a song that you should have heard of before [or even just HEARD], if you're any kind of American. Though, you may not associate them with Springsteen at first ("Cough" "Cough" Blinded By The Light....).

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DISCLAIMER:
If you actually waste your time running this against my top 100 songs list, you'll notice differences. It all obviously depends on what I'm feeling, and the fact that ordering Springsteen songs is DAMN NEAR IMPOSSIBLE.
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Without any more impeding nonsense, here is

=THE BEST OF THE BOSS: MY FAVORITE SPRINGSTEEN SONGS=

1. Born To Run -- Born To Run [1975] [*]
2. Better Days -- Lucky Town [1992]
3. Rendezvous --Tracks [1998]
4. Blood Brothers -- Greatest Hits [1995]
5. Badlands -- Darkness On The Edge Of Town [1978]
6. Waitin’ On A Sunny Day -- The Rising [2002]
7. Blinded By The Light -- Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. [1973] [*]
8. Thunder Road -- Born To Run [1975]
9. Livin’ In The Future -- Magic [2007]
10. Reason To Believe -- Nebraska [1982]
11. Radio Nowhere -- Magic [2007]
12. Long Walk Home -- Magic [2007]
13. Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) -- The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle [1973] [*]
14. For You -- Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. [1973]
15. Terry’s Song -- Magic [2007]
16. Take ‘Em As They Come --Tracks [1998]
17. Born In The U.S.A. -- Born In The U.S.A. [1984] [*]
18. Backstreets -- Born To Run [1975]
19. Jungleland -- Born To Run [1975]
20. Bobby Jean -- Born In The U.S.A. [1984]
21. The Promised Land -- Darkness On The Edge Of Town [1978]
22. Dancing In The Dark -- Born In The U.S.A. [1984] [*]
23. Into The Fire -- The Rising [2002]
24. Hungry Heart -- The River [1980] [*]
25. Cover Me -- Born In The U.S.A. [1984]
26. Incident On 57th Street -- The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle [1973]
27. I’ll Work For Your Love -- Magic [2007]
28. Prove It All Night -- Darkness On The Edge Of Town [1978]
29. It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City -- Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. [1973]
30. Darkness On The Edge Of Town -- Darkness On The Edge Of Town [1978]
31. Johnny 99 -- Nebraska [1982]
32. Glory Days -- Born In The U.S.A. [1984] [*]
33. The Rising -- The Rising [2002] [*]
34. All I’m Thinkin’ About -- Devils & Dust [2005]
35. I’m A Rocker -- The River [1980]
36. Living Proof -- Lucky Town [1992]
37. If I Should Fall Behind -- Lucky Town [1992]
38. Ain’t Got You -- Tunnel Of Love [1987]
39. She’s The One -- Born To Run [1975]
40. I’m On Fire-- Born In The U.S.A. [1984]

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Well, that was fun wasn't it?

[*] Explained:
=> Born To Run is THE Boss song.
=> Born In The U.S.A. is THE American anthem of the last half-century.
=> Blinded By The Light was covered [in absolute shit I might add] by Manfred Mann's Earth Band.

=> The Rising was accepted by generally everyone as THE post-9/11 song that echoed the sentiments of the country.
=> Glory Days, Rosalita, and Hungry Heart get a ton of radio play on oldies stations.
=> Dancing In The Dark was the Boss's biggest Top 40 hit, reaching number 2 against some gay Prince song. As such, it recieves alot of radio play today as well.
It should be known to Minnesotans and Friends fans, though, as the song that put both the Minneapolis Civic Center [where it was recorded] and Courtney Cox [Monica from Friends] on the map.
It's also when people realized that the Boss was decidedly liberal due to his very flamboyant display of support for the gay community.

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So, how do the albums stack up?

Of his 15 studio albums, all but these don't have a single song on my list:
» The Ghost Of Tom Joad
» We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
» Human Touch

Human Touch, in my opinion, just blew.

The Ghost Of Tom Joad was an individual endeavor for which he somehow thought it would be a good idea to go without the Band. For some unbelievably rediculous reason, he attempted this a second time with Devils & Dust. After that one didn't do much better, he realized he needed his E-Street Band.

The Seeger Sessions was a tribute to Pete Seeger, again without the Band, opting to use the less-skilled but just as diverse Sessions Band. The less-than-standard sales once again reminded Bruce that it is Bruce Springsteen AND THE E-STREET BAND that we love.

Of the albums that did land songs on my very presigious list, here's the count:

BORN TO RUN: 5
Born To Run
Thunder Road
Jungleland
Backstreets
She's The One

Born In The U.S.A.: 6
Born In The U.S.A.
Bobby Jean
Dancing In The Dark
Cover Me
Glory Days
I'm On Fire

Magic: 5
Radio Nowhere
Long Walk Home
Livin' In The Future
I'll Work For Your Love
Terry's Song

Darkness On The Edge Of Town: 4
Badlands
The Promised Land
Prove It All Night
Darkness On The Edge Of Town

Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.: 3
Blinded By The Light
For You
It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City

The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle: 2
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Incident On 57th Street

Lucky Town: 3
Better Days
Living Proof
If I Should Fall Behind

The Rising: 3
Waitin' On A Sunny Day
Into The Fire
The Rising

Nebraska: 2
Reason To Believe
Johnny 99

Tracks: 2
Rendezvous
Take 'Em As They Come

The River: 2
Hungry Heart
I'm A Rocker

Greatest Hits: 1
Blood Brothers

Tunnel Of Love: 1
Ain't Got You

Devils & Dust: 1
A'll I'm Thinkin' About

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So, if anyone is interested in getting a copy of my favorite Boss songs, I'd be more than happy to burn you a set [It takes like 2 or 3 discs, depending on what format I choose to use]!!

The Boss playing Born To Run in Barcelona in 2002. In frickin' Barcelona in a stadium of about 30,000+ Europeans and they all know the whole damn song.