Bruce Springsteen Inducted Into New Jersey Hall of Fame

Bruce Springsteen was among the inaugural class of twenty-five inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame on Sunday. Springsteen was on hand to accept the honor at Newark's Performing Arts Center, alongside novelist Toni Morrison, Yankee cathcer Yogi Berra and retired General Norman Schwarzkopf. "Rise up, my fellow New Jerseyans. We are all members of a confused but noble race," Springsteen told those on hand. "Even with this wonderful Hall of Fame, we know there's another bad Jersey joke just around the corner." Frank Sinatra was also chosen as a first ballot Hall of Famer. The NJ Hall of Fame only exists as a website now, but funds are being raised to build an actual museum. Meanwhile, Bon Jovi sits idly by the phone, waiting for his rite of passage.

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

More Song Stories entries »

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