Editing Born to Run (section)

===Side one===
"Thunder Road" is an invitation to travel on a long journey,{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2020|pp=76–78}} taking inspiration from the 1958 [[Thunder Road (1958 film)|film of the same name]].<ref name="UCRGuide">{{cite web |last=Lifton |first=Dave |title=Bruce Springsteen's 'Born to Run': A Track-by-Track Guide |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/bruce-springsteen-born-to-run-songs/ |website=[[Ultimate Classic Rock]] |access-date=August 10, 2023 |date=August 22, 2020 |archive-date=August 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810232707/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/bruce-springsteen-born-to-run-songs/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The song's narrator pleads with a romantic partner to join him in leaving their life behind to start anew,<ref name="AMBack" /> believing there is no time to wait and they must act now.{{sfn|Masur|2010|p=66}} Masur argues the song "lays out hopes and dreams, and the remainder of the album is an investigation into whether, and in what ways, they can be realized".{{sfn|Masur|2010|p=70}} Kirkpatrick believes the track to be a rewritten version of ''Wild''{{'s}} "[[Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)]]" with a "less innocent, more realistic perspective".{{sfn|Kirkpatrick|2007|p=42}} Described by ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''{{'s}} Kenneth Partridge as a "five-minute pop opera",<ref name="BBGuide" /> the music builds throughout the runtime;<ref name="AMTR" /> the instruments join in as the narrator's vision solidifies.{{sfn|Dolan|2012|p=120}} [[AllMusic]]'s James Gerard characterizes the tone as more melancholic than uplifting.<ref name="AMTR">{{cite web |last=Gerard |first=James |title='Thunder Road' – Bruce Springsteen Song Review |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/thunder-road-mt0006380023 |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=August 10, 2023 |archive-date=August 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813200135/https://www.allmusic.com/song/thunder-road-mt0006380023 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Miami Steve Van Zandt 2 (51412969777).jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|alt=A man on stage holding a guitar|[[Steven Van Zandt]], pictured in 1983, composed the horn arrangement for "[[Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out]]" on the spot in the studio, and joined the [[E Street Band]] shortly thereafter.]]
"Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" follows a character named Bad Scooter who is "searching for his groove" and "a place to fit in".{{sfn|Masur|2010|p=71}} Part autobiographical and part mythological,<ref name="BBGuide">{{cite magazine |last=Partridge |first=Kenneth |title=Bruce Springsteen's 'Born to Run' Turns 40: Classic Track-by-Track Album Review |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/bruce-springsteen-born-to-run-anniversary-track-by-track-review-6671433/ |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |access-date=August 10, 2023 |date=August 25, 2015 |archive-date=April 1, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401143654/https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/bruce-springsteen-born-to-run-anniversary-track-by-track-review-6671433/ |url-status=live }}</ref> the song tells Springsteen and the E Street Band's story as they struggle to find commercial success up to that point; they find success after the "Big Man" (Clemons on saxophone) joins the band in the third verse.<ref name="UCRGuide" />{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2020|pp=80–81}}<ref name="AMBack" /><ref name="AMFreeze" /> Musically, it is a funky R&B song led by brass horns;{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2020|pp=80–81}}<ref name="AMFreeze">{{cite web |last=Ruhlmann |first=William |title='Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out' – Bruce Springsteen Song Review |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/tenth-avenue-freeze-out-mt0006134132 |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=August 10, 2023 |archive-date=August 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813200135/https://www.allmusic.com/song/tenth-avenue-freeze-out-mt0006134132 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Kirkpatrick|2007|p=43}} the authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon compared it to the sound of a [[Stax Records|Stax]] record.{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2020|pp=80–81}} In his 2003 book ''Songs'', Springsteen described "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" as a "band bio and block party".{{sfn|Springsteen|2003|pp=43–47}}

"Night", the shortest song on the album,<ref name="UCRGuide" /><ref name="BBGuide" /> follows a man who is a slave to the working life. He dreads working his nine-to-five job, but his love for drag racing motivates him to work so he can live for the night.{{sfn|Kirkpatrick|2007|p=43}}{{sfn|Masur|2010|p=76}} Similar to other album tracks, it uses the highway as a means for escape.{{efn|Springsteen further explored the themes of "Night" on ''Darkness on the Edge of Town''.{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2020|pp=82–83}}}}{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2020|pp=82–83}} Musically, the song contains various minor and major [[Key (music)|key]] shifts in the music; Masur argues the minor key "condemns the monotonous world of daytime work" and the major key "offers the possibilities of screeching off into the night".{{sfn|Masur|2010|p=75}} Margotin and Guesdon highlight the wall of sound production and compare its rock-and-roll sound to [[Chuck Berry]].{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2020|pp=82–83}}

"Backstreets" features a long piano-led intro.{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2020|pp=84–85}} Described by Masur as "operatic and theatrical",{{sfn|Masur|2010|p=78}} the band took inspiration from various Dylan and Orbison songs for the instrumental parts.{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2020|pp=84–85}} The song tells the story of the narrator's friendship with an individual named Terry, using both realistic and poetic imagery. The two become close until their relationship is broken after Terry leaves the narrator for someone else, after which the narrator "reflects that he and Terry did not turn out to be the heroes 'we thought we had to be{{'}}". Terry's gender is unclear, leading some reviewers to interpret the relationship as homosexual.{{efn|The writer William Ruhlmann has argued that Springsteen later explored a platonic but powerful friendship between two men in the ''[[Born in the U.S.A.]]'' track "[[Bobby Jean]]" (1984).<ref name="AMBack" />}}{{efn|Masur argues that live performances of the song in the late 1970s clarify that Terry is a woman.{{sfn|Masur|2010|p=80}}}}<ref name="AMBack">{{cite web |last=Ruhlmann |first=William |title='Backstreets' – Bruce Springsteen Song Review |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/backstreets-mt0006342674 |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=August 10, 2023 |archive-date=August 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230813200135/https://www.allmusic.com/song/backstreets-mt0006342674 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="BBGuide" /><ref name="Treble" /> The song contains autobiographical elements related to Springsteen's youth, with cinematic references.{{sfn|Margotin|Guesdon|2020|pp=84–85}}