Bruce Springsteen was advocating for the rights of the common working-class man. The song was widely misinterpreted as jingoistic, and in connection with the 1984 presidential campaign became the subject of considerable folklore. In 1984, conservative columnist George Will attended a Springsteen concert and then wrote a column praising Springsteen's work ethic. Six days after the column was printed, in a campaign rally in Hammonton, New Jersey, Reagan said, "America's future rests in a thousand dreams inside your hearts. It rests in the message of hope in the songs of a man so many young Americans admire—New Jersey's own, Bruce Springsteen." Two
Magic (Bruce Springsteen album) Magic (Bruce Springsteen album) Magic is the fifteenth studio album by Bruce Springsteen. The album was released on September 25, 2007, by Columbia Records. It was his first with the E Street Band since "The Rising" in 2002. The album ranked number two on "Rolling Stone"'s list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007. "Magic" was announced on August 16, 2007, following months of fevered recording speculation and weeks of equally fevered release speculation among the Springsteen faithful. Of the album's tracks, "Long Walk Home" had been previously heard once, late on the 2006 Sessions Band Tour; the rest were