Born To Run

Whether it’s the moody anthems from Fletcher or the raucous party anthems from Remember Jones, the queer Asbury Park music scene is well documented. As a matter of fact, that scene has intersected frequently with fellow Asbury Park based artists like Quincy Mumford, Nicole Atkins, The Gaslight Anthem and The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. Last year, we got to watch Asbury Park go back in time; the Empress Hotel went dark and the carousel house glistened with lights once more; the Boss has returned to Asbury Park, with Jeremy Alan White filming the feature film Deliver Me From Nowhere, focusing on the recording of Bruce’s landmark album Nebraska. Seeing the buzz around town, I couldn’t help but wonder; what was the queer musical legacy of The Boss shaping up to be?

As a Monmouth County resident growing up, the phantom of Bruce Springsteen sprinkled my own upbringing. I rode in cars with my father through the streets of Freehold that raised The Boss and in earlier years, I visited the Asbury Park boardwalk with my family; the very same boardwalk that Springsteen unassumingly walks to this day. The first strong connection I saw with Bruce and the queer community was ironically, on MTV. Back when this channel was known primarily for music, they had a show titled MTV Unplugged. Artists would appear in an intimate setting in front of a small audience and play acoustic versions of their songs, sometimes with other artists joining them. Melissa Etheridge had just released her landmark album Yes I Am and I was soaking up every word, while simultaneously coming to my own personal reckoning as well. Etheridge headlined an episode of Unplugged & welcomed Springsteen to sing his anthem “Thunder Road”. I don’t know whether it was the patter between them, her admiration for Bruce as an artist, or hearing this very personal song to me be belted out by two artists that influenced me personally so much, but it remains one of my absolute favorite recordings to this day.

Bruce Springsteen’s intersection with the LGBTQ community has also inspired a podcast, the aptly titled Because The Boss Belongs To Us. Launched in June of last year, the podcast (hosted by Jesse Lawson & Holly Casio) makes the case for Springsteen being the icon for the queer community that so many of us already know that he is. Whether they’re waxing poetic about Springsteen lyrics and their queer hidden meanings or looking into his status as a true underdog, Lawson and Casio work throughout the podcast to determine if Springsteen is a true queer icon. One consistent point of irony that is weaved throughout the podcast references the Springsteen fandom & is delivered firmly with tongue in cheek “What the hell are they-trans/activist/abolitionist/DIY punk/drag king/working class/weirdos/-doing idolizing a cis, straight, rich, white man”? The podcast dives into Springsteen’s music, truly reinterpreting some famed tracks and offering a different perspective (personally, I have always questioned the origin of the glorious anthem “Backstreets”, which very well could be about a same-sex couple based on the lyrics).

The “Because The Boss Belongs To Us” team have even released a playlist, aptly titled “Queer Springsteen” on Spotify. Sprinkled with some of Bruce’s own tracks with queer undertones (“Real Man”) there are also some phenomenal covers of Springsteen classics by artists like electro wunderkind Kiode, with a sparkling rendition of “Thunder Road”.

The Boss even has a connection to this publication already. Our multi-hyphenate fearless leader (and Editor) Jill Potter told me recently that Springsteen unexpectedly arrived at the door to one of her legendary Crush dance parties at The Beach Bar in 2009. “At the door he asked how he could get in and was told he had to be an ‘honorary lesbian’, at which point he extended his arm to get a wrist band put on him; and entered he did” Potter tells me. She went on to say that “he then spent about an hour (easily) mingling with the women, taking photos, getting put on phone calls to prove he was really there”!

Even recently (at the 2024 Sea.Hear.Now festival), Bruce Springsteen himself spoke glowingly of the LGBTQ community. From the stage on the final night of Sea.Hear.Now., The Boss said to the record crowd “I just want to take a moment to thank all of the people who have invested themselves to bring Asbury Park back to life” said Springsteen from the stage. “On the East Side, on the West Side-I want to thank the LGBTQ+ community for all they did for Asbury Park in the last twenty five years”!