Themes in Popular Culture - Essay Example

The themes in Springsteen’s songs are often experienced by most people and this perhaps is one of the reasons why his songs became popular among many Americans and other cultures. Springsteen’s ability to bring to life everyday, ordinary circumstances is excellent so that listeners could easily relate to the songs as they enjoy and patronize his music. Along with Springsteen, another contemporary singer was making a name for himself, Bob Seger. The latter is not simply a contemporary of Springsteen but he also wrote songs with similar themes.

To see the similarities on the works of the two popular culture artists, I will discuss Seger’s “Turn the Page” along with the works of Springsteen. “Turn the Page” tells the life story of Seger in part as an artist. Just like Springsteen, he writes about every day or ordinary situations that reflect his thoughts and emotions. He wrote the aforementioned song while he was on the road, completing a tour and it basically reflects how he felt about the trip. He starts off with a descriptive phrase “On a long and lonesome highway” which gives a clear picture of a deserted road.

The terms “highway”, “road” or “street” are common terms Springsteen often use in his works. For instance, in his song “Thunder Road”, the phrases “For a savior to rise from these streets”, “To trade in these wings on some wheels”, “Were riding out tonight” and “Thunder road” all suggest a path, track or the like. Metaphorically, road is used as a symbol for a person’s choices and way of life, a theme that is quite obvious in Springsteen’s lyrics. They suggest that in life, people are always presented with different roads and different roles but one cannot walk two roads at the same time.

Therefore, a person has to make a choice. For Seger, the road that he has to take is specified; it is “east of Omaha”. This does not mean that he will have