The Story Behind Bruce Springsteen's Song "Nebraska"

Earlier in his career Bruce Springsteen had a strong, abiding faith in the ability of Rock n' Roll to set things right. With the election of Ronald Reagan and the deteriorating economy, especially for the blue color, his faith began to falter. "There was a particular moment when I said, 'Oh, my ideas that have sustained me have sort of failed'", he recalled. The result was the stark, raw, haunting acoustic album "Nebraska". What inspired the leadoff song on the album was a headline just as angry and troubling as the song itself.

It's 1958. A 19 year-old man named Charles Starkweather takes his 14 year-old girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate on a two month rampage during which they murdered 10 people across the state of Nebraska, including Fugate's mother and stepfather and their daughter; two teenagers who stopped to give them a ride; a friend of the Starkweather family; a wealthy local industrialist, his wife and his maid; and a traveling salesman sleeping in his car, all of whom just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Eventually Starkweather and Fugate were captured in nearby Douglas, Wyoming. Starkweather got the electric chair 17 months later. Fugate served 17 ½ years in prison and was eventually paroled.

Terrence Malick would later direct the movie "Badlands", based on the Starkweather/Fugate crime spree. Released in 1973 Springsteen saw the poster for the movie in a theater one day and used the title for a song for his album "Darkness on the Edge of Town". He finally saw the movie in 1980. The lyrics to "Nebraska" begin with a vignette taken directly from the film of a young girl twirling a baton on her front lawn.

The story affected Springsteen enough that he was moved to research the tragedy the film was based on. He even interviewed Ninette Beaver, the author of "Caril" which describes the Starkweather/Fugate rampage and subsequent trials. At one point Springsteen considered naming the song "Starkweather".

In the end, though the Boss assumes Starkweather's voice, he titled the song "Nebraska", taking a few liberties along the way. It's true that Starkweather tried to implicate Fugate for the killings (the singer tells the sheriff to make sure "my pretty baby is sittin' right there on my lap" when he's sent to the electric chair) and that he expressed no remorse ("I can't say that I'm sorry for the things that we done").

But Starkweather never attributed the murders to "just a meanness in this world." That fragment of dark brilliance was pure Springsteen.

In the end it doesn't matter that not everything about the song was factually accurate. The Boss had peered into America's "heart of darkness" and succeeded in plucking out this nightmarish jewel.

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