More than any other state, New Jersey poses a challenge of identifying what exactly determines whether a song is ‘about’ a state. Is Thunder Road about Jersey? Nothing explicitly marks it that way, but we all know that’s where it’s set. Is Born to Run about Jersey? Or is it more accurately about getting the hell out of Jersey?
And then there are the songs with a real, but somewhat tangential connection to the place. For a state with fewer options, something like 99 Problems (which isn’t really about Jersey, but is certainly set there) would be a clear winner. Or America, which takes place in several locations, but whise climax occurs here (“counting the cars on the New Jersey turnpike…they’ve all come to look for America”). And speaking of the Turnpike, you’d hardly go wrong with Chuck Berry’s You Can’t Catch Me.
But for this state, it’s not enough to be a great song set in the place; you want something that really defines itself in relation to the state.
I gave serious consideration to Jersey Girl and Jersey Bounce, and certainly wouldn’t argue with anyone who took one of them, but in the end I couldn’t say no to The Boss. And while it’s not (quite) the best of his Jersey-adjacent songs, I don’t think there’s one that more perfectly captures the specificity of the state. It’s about the seediness of the boardwalk and casinos, of course, but it’s also about what it’s like to be a person living in the shadow of it all.
Everything dies, baby that’s a fact
But maybe everything that dies some day comes back.
Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic city.