“Bruce Springsteen’s phenomenal breakthrough in 1975 can only be understood against a backdrop of profound dislocation and urgent activism, particularly in the working-class communities that absorbed so many of the decade’s economic and cultural shocks.” On the 40th anniversary of the album, Joshua Zeitz takes an interesting look back at Born to Run and the decline of the American dream.

+ “I guess when I wrote that song, I thought I was writing about a guy and girl who wanted to run and keep on running.” Let’s celebrate 40 with a live and acoustic version of the song that landed Springsteen on the covers of Time and Newsweek in the same week (back when Time and Newsweek were still Time and Newsweek. (I choose to believe Springsteen is a NextDraft subscriber.)