Bruce Springsteen – Streets of Philadelphia
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Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Streets of Philadelphia’ was made on purpose for the movie ‘Philadelphia’ which came out in 1993. The song is mainly about pain and abandonment. And this is apparently because the movie it was made for focuses on a jilted gay lawyer who dies of AIDS. The film’s goals included raising awareness of HIV/AIDS. He also sought to combat the canker of homophobia in the United States.
‘Oh brother, are you going to leave me wasting? On the streets of Philadelphia” And while the song’s lyrics may seem like it doesn’t actually directly touch on any of the aforementioned goals of the movie in question, it really does. For example, Springsteen mentions that his clothes don’t fit him anymore.
This could be a direct reference to the fact that one of the symptoms of HIV is that it causes patients to lose weight. And when you lose weight, your clothes obviously don’t fit you anymore. Inspiration Even though “Streets of Philadelphia” was written for a movie, the lyrics were inspired by a real event. According to Springsteen, he was inspired to compose this classic after encountering a real-life tragedy.
That tragedy was the sudden death of a close friend. And Springsteen apparently references that tragedy when he speaks of hearing the ‘voices of friends’ who are ‘disappeared and gone’.
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In 1995, this classic earned Springsteen a total of four Grammy wins, including the coveted ‘Song of the Year’ award. It also earned him the award for ‘Best Rock Song’.
In addition to being a multiple Grammy Award-winning song, ‘Streets of Philadelphia’ is also an Oscar-winning song. It won the ‘Best Original Song’ category at the 66th Academy Awards. It also took home a Golden Globe in 1993, also in the ‘Best Original Song’ category.