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INFO
Bobby Jean is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and released on his 1984 album Born in the U.S.A.

GENESIS AND LYRICS
The narrator visits Bobby Jean, who has left the city some time ago, causing his memories to come back to him with a hint of nostalgia: "You hung with me when all the others turned away, turned up their nose/ We liked the same music, we liked the same band, we liked the same clothes". Who is Bruce Springsteen referring to here? A teenage love from his time in Freehold or Asbury Park? No. The songwriter provides a clue in his book songs: "Bobby Jean is a good song about youthful friendship", he writes. It would seem that like No Surrender, Bobby Jean was dedicated to Steve Van Zandt. "Now there ain´t nobody nowhere nohow gonna ever understand me the way you did". This line, which Springsteen sings in the bridge, is loaded with real emotion. In all probability, he wrote it during sessions for Born in the U.S.A., after the guitarist had decided to leave the E Street Band. Van Zandt was frustated that he did not have the role he wanted - that of the Boss´s right hand man (which had always been filled by Jon Landau) - and needing, above all, to see his projects through as the head of The Disciples of Soul.
One thing was for sure: the friendship and musical bond between Bruce and Steve would survive life´s twists and turns, as the pair would get back together in the 1990s for new adventures onstage and in the studio.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed Bobby Jean onstage for the first time at a concert in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on 29 June 1984.

PRODUCTION
Before returning to The Hit Factory with the E Street Band in July 1983 to record Bobby Jean , Bruce Springsteen lost the thread of his next album. Although he´d recorded most of the songs for the A-side of Born in the U.S.A in the spring of 1982, as he worked alone in his new home studio in Los Angeles, in early 1983 he still didn´t know what kind of character to give to his seventh album. The poppiness of some of the songs, like Cover Me or I´m on Fire, were not completely to his liking. Chuck Plotkin, at that point a coproducer, had tried to explain to him that his strength was in rock, but the Boss was doubtful and did not know where to turn. A heated discussion left Plotkin feeling uncertain of his position. Then, a miracle: "Two nights later, we went into the studio and he said, ´I have a song I want to cut´. We cut Bobby Jean and it was like the fever had broken". From that moment on, the songwriter knew what character to give to Born in the U.S.A.: it would be rock. This did not prevent him, at the time, from disliking the songs from the Electric Nebraska Sessions. Landau and Plotkin would still have to fight hard to change his mind.
Even more so than No Surrender, Bobby Jean has hints of Born to Run, with a tight and powerful sound distinguished by Danny Federici´s persistent glockenspiel, Clarence Clemons´s tenor sax, and Max Weinberg´s assertive drum performance. Aside from the bridge (at 1:57), the entire song revolves around the same four chords. Springsteen never tires, always delivers a gripping performance, and persuades with feeling and sincerity. Two musicians stand out in particular: Garry Tallent, who, once again, delivers a superb bass line, and Clarence Clemons, who, for the second time on the album (after Darlington County), launches into an excellent saxophone solo in the coda (starting from 2:48).
Not to be outdone, Roy Bittan uses his Yamaha CS-80 to create sounds befitting of his time - brassy sounds that bring an upbeat feel to the harmony. His piano accompaniment is also essential to the song, particularly in the last verse, where his lyrical flights add to the emotion expressed in Bruce Springsteen´s lyrics.
Bobby Jean, which was mixed by Bob Clearmountain on 10 October 1983, is one of the key songs of Born in the U.S.A.

FOR SPRINGSTEEN ADDICTS
In High Fidelity (1995), the British novelist (and fan of Bruce Springsteen) Nick Hornby makes his main character, who works in a music store in London, say that Bobby Jean is a woman who has left without leaving an adress. There is a brilliant nod to this in the Stephen Frears´ film adaptation of Hornby´s novel (2000): the main character (played by John Cusak) dreams of being in deep conversation with Bruce Springsteen. This just happens to be the Boss´s first appearance on the big screen!