Bruce Springsteen’s Greatest Epics [LIST]

Incident paints a vivid picture of a character named Spanish Johnny who finds himself entangled in the seedy underworld happenings of an unnamed city. The song comes in at a hefty 7:45, the length is needed to tell the full story of Johnny, being accused of lying and cheating by local pimps before leaving his girlfriend, Puerto Rican Jane, to "make some easy."

The most renowned of Springsteen's great story songs, "Jungleland" has been a staple in Springsteen's live performances throughout the E Street Band's touring history. The tune is again a story of ill-fated love as the Magic Rat and the Barefoot Girl are torn apart due to gang violence of which the Rat is part. After a powerful Clarence Clemons saxophone, we are shown Rat's somber fate when "no one watches as the ambulance pulls away."

In 1998, fans were introduced to a four-CD, 66 song collection of previously unreleased Springsteen material called Tracks. Among the gems unearthed from the collection was the 8:30-long "Thundercrack." Originally recorded for The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle, the song was ultimately cut because it didn't fit the record's overarching theme. This fast and loose love song would become a signature hit in some Springsteen tours following the 1998 Tracks release, with fans taking part in its "all night" call and response.

This six-minute Romeo and Juliet tale is another cut unearthed from The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle sessions for inclusion in the Tracks collection. It's worth noting that the Terry in this song is implied to be female,while the Terry mentioned in "Backstreets" from 1975's Born to Run is not gender-specific. It's not clear if one, both or neither of these characters is representative of Springsteen's longtime friend and confidant Terry Magovern, who was and was the subject of "Terry's Song" from Magic.

The closing track of Springsteen's second album, "New York City Serenade" is an ode to the City that Never Sleeps that measures a mammoth 9:55. The tune is highlighted by masterful piano and orchestral string arrangements from David Sancious. A little known fact about "New York City Serenade" is that it is actually an amalgamation of some of Springsteen's early work including the songs "Vibes Man" and "New York City Song."

The first song written for his ambitious double album The River, "Point Blank" deals with addiction and is among many of Springsteen's songs to be set against a stark, poverty-stricken canvas. Remarkable for a song of its length, tempo and subject matter, "Point Blank" reached number 20 on the Billboard chart despite never being released as a single.

The last track on side A of Darkness, "Racing in the Street" is perhaps Springsteen's most forlorn composition. Delicate piano and percussion offset lyrics mired in longing and desperation. The narrator is a down on his luck working man who lives to race his '69 Chevy while his girlfriend yearns for more from life.