The River produces the band’s first Top 10 hit—“Hungry Heart”—and with the added sales comes a more gender-diverse audience. Primed for another stab at success in Europe, they’re booked for a tour. Unlike the first tour, this one is an unqualified success because the music crosses language and cultural barriers. The lone stain on the tour is the oppressive sight of the Berlin Wall. It affects them all deeply, even pushing Van Zandt’s own music into a more overtly political place. With this tour, they’re now international rock stars.

Back in the USA

After reading Ron Kovic’s Vietnam memoir, Born on the Fourth of July, Springsteen meets Kovic, who introduces him to other veterans, most of them physically or emotionally scarred. Recalling his own friends who served or died in Vietnam, Springsteen lends his star power to Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), an organization sorely in need of funding and publicity. In 1981, he plays a benefit concert for VVA, putting his fame to “pragmatic political use” (291).

The River Flows, It Flows to the Sea

Springsteen’s success and his work with VVA awakens in him a sense of social responsibility. He begins to read history texts as a way to answer some of his persistent questions about national identity and possibility.