Bruce Springsteen - Glory Days - Lyrics Meaning

Written by Bruce Springsteen, this song was a huge hit for the singer-songwriter in 1985. The lyrics tell the tale of someone meeting up with old high school acquaintances in later years only to discover that conversation has changed little as the focus remains entrenched in the `glory days' of high school.

First we meet the old friend who `was a big baseball player back in high school,' but he seems to have nothing else to talk about other than his so-called `glory days.' Next we meet a girl who, `back in school ... could turn all the boy's heads,' but we learn that she now has kids from a failed marriage and spends a lot of time reminiscing over the `glory days' when she's feeling down. The tale ends with the story-teller planning a night of drinking at his local bar but he hopes he won't, `get old and sit around thinking about it.'

The upbeat music gives this song a real feel-good factor but essentially the lyrics are quite sad, if not depressing. The people we meet in the song believe their school days were the best days of their lives so it's hard not to see them as some of life's losers.

In an interview, Springsteen said of the song, "The first verse actually happened, the second verse mostly happened, the third verse, of course, is happening now."

`The Boss' left with nothing but, `boring stories of glory days' - not likely!