"The Wish", an autobiographical song about his mom buying him a guitar for Christmas: "Well, tonight I'm takin' requests here in the kitchen, this one's for you, ma, let me come right out and say it, it's overdue, but baby, if you're looking for a sad song, well, I ain't gonna play it!"
Ensemble Darkhorse: The Big Man, Clarence Clemons. Always introduced last, to the loudest applause. You could usually hear, on live recordings, a swell in the crowd noise when he got a solo. Also The Stoic and usually The Voiceless, although he could and sometimes did sing.
Steve Van Zandt could claim this now, but for very unmusical reasons.
Clemons sometimes toured on his own with a band called "The Big Man's Temple of Soul". And his shows were every bit as intense as Bruce's.
Seeing as "Bobby Jean" is about Steve leaving the band in the eighties, not just for laughs...
He used to close "Thunder Road" by sliding across the stage, ending up on his knees in front of Clarence Clemons, who would proceed to kiss him passionately.
Clemons had a girlfriend who dumped him because she thought he was cheating on her with Bruce.
It's Popular, Now It Sucks: There's a contingent of hardcore fans who dismiss Born in the USA because it was too commercially successful.
Memetic Badass: Clarence. The story of how he joined the band: They were playing in a small club on a rather stormy night, he showed up and accidentally tore the door off its hinges and told Bruce "I want to play with your band."
According to legend, Bruce's response was, "...uh, you can do WHATEVER YOU WANT, man..."
Misaimed Fandom: How many times has "Born in the USA" been trotted out on July 4th or otherwise associated with some form of patriotism?
"Born to Run" is considered one of New Jersey state's songs despite it being about, in Springsteen's own words, "about leaving Jersey.".
Notably, at the time, working-class Freehold, which he also somewhat bittersweetly skewers in My Hometown, and In Freehold.
Nightmare Fuel: The last few lines of "Magic": On the road the sun is sinkin' low / Bodies hanging in the trees / This is what what will be / This is what will be...