The Perfect Anti-Valentine Playlist - Bruce Springsteen on Shuffle

There was a time I was anti-Valentine and unromantic. A time long ago. Before I met my wife, she reads my articles so I need to be clear about this. I'm absolutely not like that now, no way. I'm so romantic and in love you wouldn't believe it.

There was a time I didn't listen to Bruce Springsteen. A time long ago. Before August 25th 1975 to be exact. It was a Monday, 6.12pm. Born to Run came on the radio. It was the day it was released.

From then on, Bruce provided my anti-Valentine playlist every 14th February. Until I met my wife of course. Although to be honest, he provides my playlist everyday.

His songs cover many important areas but romance and love don't feature that high on his usual topic list.

I could have provided a playlist of almost all his songs for an anti-Valentine's playlist, most of them are eminently suitable. However, here are the absolute top 8 songs from my former Anti-Valentine Springsteen Playlist.

The River

This is a song about meeting a woman and getting married. So what's that doing on my Anti-Valentine's Day Playlist you might ask?

The River is about a man taking a girl down to the riverside, getting her pregnant, having to marry her, getting a job at a factory, losing the job because the economy's rubbish and then breaking up with his wife.

A perfect starter for the first song on the Anti-Valentine's Playlist.

Racing in the Street

The first two lines describe the carburetor, gear box and engine size on a '69 Chevy automobile. The next two lines tell you it's in a parking lot by the Seven Eleven store.

If that doesn't kill off any romantic notions, nothing will.

Factory

Number three on the list is a slowy. Perfect for an intimate dance?

No. I guess no one wouldn't really want a slow romantic Valentine's dance to a song describing the monotony of working in a factory. And walking there in the rain. The ideal unromantic 3rd track.

Glory Days

Don't lose your best days to the wink of a young girl's eye, advises Mr S. The whole song is a paean to how the old days were best; those days before you met someone, settled down and life got really, really, really boring.

If ever you were feeling down about being on your own on Valentine's Day, here's the song to cheer you up and make you realise you're still in your Glory Days and not just dreaming about them. Except for me. These are now my Glory Days, of course they are.

Born in the USA

Coming in at number 5, the perfect anti-Valentine's anthem. If the previous songs had light tunes but heavy lyrics, this one blows away any thoughts of ignoring Bruce's lyrics to concentrate on a cute melody.

Thumping drum beat, repetitive synth and Bruce singing in his roughest, loudest, shoutiest voice. If the heavy rock beat doesn't shake you up, the lyrics will. It's the story of a poor man's suffering and loss through the Vietnam War and the after effects.

Misery and pain. Ideal for any lone Valentine's night with a beer, burger and football on the TV.

Wreck on the Highway

Yep, it's a song about a car accident. We have drizzling rain, blood, glass, guts, ambulances and a state trooper knocking on a door in the middle of the night to tell a wife about her husband's death.

The highlight of any anti-Valentine's night celebration.

Born to Run

A song about never settling down. Lots of lyrical imagery about car crashes, chrome wheels, fuel injections and suicide. There are a couple of crude sexual innuendos using car euphemisms and vague promises to the girl in the story that one day he might want to settle down with her and walk in the sun. If she would just agree to have sex with him first. Yeah right, then he's going to run.

You want romantic? Don't look at the Boss.

The Ties That Bind

You don't need no one by your side. Leaving aside Springsteen's ungrammatical double negative, here's a song about a break up.

What could be better for any anti-Valentine's evening than considering the potentially ruinous consequences of a romantic night. It might all end up in a messy break up, so what's the point? (Not in our case of course, dear wife).

Just in case you start to get fooled by the happy-clappy tune, you hear that the girl in the song has packed her bags and she has an empty heart.

Far better to enjoy a fun anti-Valentine's night without any of that potential future hassle.

The perfect anti-Valentine's playlist

My Anti-Valentine's Springsteen Playlist is on my Spotify site for anyone in the same position as I was ten years ago. Before I met my beautiful wife and I didn't need it anymore.

As for Springsteen, he did have one solitary romantic moment. It was in 1987. He slipped in a song called Valentine's Day at the very end of his Tunnel of Love Album. It's still about cars and roads; the difference is this one is about him driving home to the woman he loves.

This is the one Springsteen song I now use on the evening of 14th February. The other songs are for the remaining 364 days.