‘Deliver Me from Nowhere focuses on Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska’ album era
Jeremy Allen White is channeling is inner Boss.
The Emmy Award-winning actor has been revealed in his first look as Bruce Springsteen for the forthcoming biopic, Deliver Me from Nowhere. Written and directed by Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart, Hostiles), the film focuses on Springsteen’s Nebraska album era.
Check out Jeremy Allen White in his classic Bruce garb below.
Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska, released in September 1982, is widely regarded as one of his most introspective and unconventional records. Known for his grand, stadium-filling anthems, Springsteen took a radically different approach with this album, stripping away the exuberance and instrumentation that characterized much of his earlier work. Instead, Nebraska is a collection of stark, haunting songs that explore the darker corners of American life.
Springsteen’s creative process for Nebraska began in 1981 during a period of introspection following the commercial success of The River. Originally, Nebraska was not meant to be released as it was recorded. Springsteen, feeling a creative pull toward more raw, narrative-driven songs, recorded demos on a four-track cassette recorder at his home in Colts Neck, New Jersey. These demo recordings, made on January 3, 1982, were intended to serve as rough sketches for what was supposed to become a full-band album with the E Street Band.
The songs were born out of a period of deep reflection, with Springsteen drawing inspiration from literature, history, and the bleak realities facing America during the early 1980s. Influenced by writers like Flannery O’Connor and Woody Guthrie, Springsteen crafted vivid, haunting stories of lost souls, criminals, and the marginalized. The title track, “Nebraska,” for example, is based on the true story of spree killer Charles Starkweather, while songs like “Atlantic City” delve into personal and societal disillusionment.
After listening to the demos, Springsteen and his producer, Jon Landau, struggled to recapture the raw intensity and intimacy of the recordings in a studio setting. Despite attempts to re-record the songs with the full band, the stripped-down, home-recorded versions conveyed an emotional immediacy that couldn’t be matched in the studio. Ultimately, Springsteen decided to release the demos as the album.
This decision marked a significant departure for Springsteen. The songs on Nebraska are minimal, with just his voice, guitar, and harmonica, underscoring the desolate, barren themes. The recording’s lo-fi quality, complete with tape hiss and rough edges, only added to its stark authenticity.
Nebraska stands out in Springsteen’s discography for its unflinching exploration of America’s underbelly. The album opens with the title track, telling the grim tale of Starkweather’s killing spree, sung in a voice devoid of judgment or glorification. It sets the tone for the album’s broader meditation on hopelessness, poverty, and moral ambiguity.
Throughout Nebraska, Springsteen tells stories of characters trapped in cycles of poverty and despair. “Johnny 99” narrates the story of an unemployed factory worker who turns to crime and ends up on death row. “Highway Patrolman” explores themes of family loyalty and moral conflict, telling the story of a lawman torn between duty and his bond with his criminal brother. In “Atlantic City,” a man’s decision to take a chance on a doomed future serves as a metaphor for the disillusionment many felt in the post-industrial America of the early 1980s.
While the bleak subject matter was a stark contrast to the more triumphant anthems Springsteen was known for, it revealed his deep empathy for the American working class and the struggles of those left behind by a rapidly changing society.
Given its stripped-down nature and dark subject matter, Nebraska was a commercial risk. It lacked the radio-friendly singles that fueled the success of Springsteen’s previous albums like Born to Run or The River. Despite this, Nebraska was a moderate commercial success, debuting at number 3 on the Billboard 200 chart and selling over 1 million copies in the U.S. It was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA, a testament to Springsteen’s loyal fan base and the album’s enduring appeal.
Critically, Nebraska was lauded upon release. Critics praised Springsteen for his willingness to take creative risks and explore more introspective, emotionally raw territory. Robert Christgau of The Village Voice called it “a definitive album about American despair,” while Rolling Stone described it as “a meditation on isolation, guilt, and redemption.”
Though it did not produce any major radio hits, songs like “Atlantic City” and “Johnny 99” have become enduring staples of Springsteen’s live performances. In retrospect, Nebraska is considered one of his greatest achievements, cementing Springsteen’s reputation as a master storyteller and chronicler of American life.
Nebraska has grown in stature over the years, influencing a wide range of artists, from folk musicians to indie rock bands. Its stark, lo-fi aesthetic prefigured the rise of the stripped-down acoustic sound in the 1990s, influencing albums like Johnny Cash’s American Recordings and bands like The National and Wilco. It’s also frequently cited by musicians as an example of artistic bravery and integrity, showing that an artist as commercially successful as Springsteen could follow his muse down unexpected, uncommercial paths.
In many ways, Nebraska remains a defining work in Springsteen’s career. Its quiet, haunting beauty, stark honesty, and vivid character studies offer a unique window into Springsteen’s songwriting genius, as well as the struggles and dreams of everyday Americans.
With Nebraska, Bruce Springsteen didn’t just produce an album — he created a haunting and timeless portrait of America that continues to resonate with listeners more than four decades after its release.
