Stolen Car

And I'm driving a stolen car
On a pitch black night
And I'm telling myself I'm gonna be alright
But I ride by night and I travel in fear
That in this darkness I will disappear

--“Stolen Car” The River

Although many Springsteen songs deal with cars, there are few that deal with stolen cars, the main exceptions being “Stolen Car” from The River and “State Trooper” from Nebraska. In both of these songs the narrators are driven by their desperation to commit the unlawful act of stealing a car, the difference is how far their despair has driven them. In “Stolen Cars” the narrator takes to the night to avoid his dieing marriage, and, like the narrator of “State Trooper” he wants to get caught, although his is a conscious desire, the difference, or the turning point for the character comes as he admits in “Stolen Car” that he is afraid of being swallowed by the darkness. In “State Trooper” not only has the narrator lost himself in the dark, he has been consumed by the desperate loneliness which permeates his journey on the turnpike.

Another song which is directly affected by the driver of a stolen car is “Highway Patrolman,” also from Nebraska. In this instance the stolen car is driven by the highway patrolman’s lowly brother.