Bruce Springsteen - Born to run

Few artists personify the American dream as well as Bruce Springsteen. If those reading this know him by only one song, it�s highly probable that it will be his 1984 hit 'Born In The USA', his tribute to the soldiers in Vietnam, but which soon became the unofficial anthem of blue-collar, working class Americana. His sound is distinctly American, yet there is feeling behind it all that transcends nationalities, and though his songs tell stories of young American dreams and hardships, they are tales that people everywhere can connect with.

When Bruce and his E Street Band crashed onto the scene in 1973, the young songwriter was hailed as the next Dylan, which though flattering was not the best comparison. Sure, there are similarities, not least the use of harmonica, but whereas Dylan is the master of tight rhyme schemes and subtle messages, Bruce's storytelling was raw and much more direct. His songs about growing up were words that adolescents could latch onto straight away, and so Bruce was much more quickly accepted into American youth culture of the time than the older folks who gave him the Dylan label.