Born to Run: The Transmedia Evolution of the Bruce Springsteen Memoir from Book to Stage and Screen

ABSTRACT

This article explores how the genre of rock memoir took a new cultural and commercial turn with the publication of Springsteen’s book Born to Run (2016). It traces how the book became the foundation for a transmedia project that unfolded across several platforms (including the Broadway stage and Netflix) over the course of two years (2016–2018). This transmedia project worked to construct the twenty-first-century Springsteen as an artist and commentator whose work lies at the intersections of rock, popular literature, scripted theater, and the screen.

KEYWORDS:

• Autobiography
• memoir
• narrative
• Netflix
• Springsteen
• transmedia

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Unless otherwise stated, transcriptions of Springsteen’s monologues and interviews are my own.

2. In order of their appearance on Broadway, the songs that overlap with the tracks on Chapter and Verse are: “Growin’ Up,” “My Father’s House,” “Born in the U.S.A.,” “Brilliant Disguise,” “Long Time Comin,’” “The Ghost of Tom Joad,” “The Rising,” and “Born to Run.”

3. Shortly after Springsteen on Broadway’s release, Netflix exclusively released two further concert films: Taylor Swift’s Reputation (31 December 2018) and Beyoncé’s Homecoming (17 April 2019). These reinforce how popular musicians are increasingly using this audiovisual medium to construct and reconstruct their legacies. Homecoming is particularly open with its audience about the artifice of the medium: E.g. it features backstage footage and includes narrative voice-overs from Beyoncé. Like Springsteen on Broadway, it weaves together performance material from two concerts (recorded at Coachella) and was released concurrently with a live album.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Laura Watson

Laura Watson is Associate Professor of Music at Maynooth University, Ireland. Her musicological research focuses on relationships between twentieth-century music and texts, and on women in music. Books include Paul Dukas: Composer and Critic (2019) and published or forthcoming edited collections. Articles and reviews appear in journals such as Twentieth-Century Music, Journal of the Society for Musicology in Ireland, Musical Times, Music and Letters, Nineteenth-Century Music Review, and Irish University Review. Further recent publications include chapters in Made in Ireland: Studies in Popular Music and Music, Memory and Memoir. Laura is a co-founder and active member of Sounding the Feminists, an advocacy group that campaigns for gender equality action in music throughout Ireland.