Only Child shines a new light on Bruce Springsteen’s enduring songs…
Bruce Springsteen’s songs have never belonged solely to Bruce Springsteen. Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, his music has travelled far beyond the streets of New Jersey, finding a home wherever ordinary lives are shaped by hope, hardship and resilience. It is that universal quality that lies at the heart of the latest release from Liverpool songwriter Alan O’Hare and his acclaimed musical project, Only Child.
Rather than approaching Springsteen’s catalogue as a collection of untouchable classics, O’Hare has chosen four songs whose themes continue to resonate as strongly today as when they were first written. His forthcoming EP is less a tribute than a thoughtful conversation with an artist whose work has helped shape his own outlook on life.“The emotional intelligence contained within many Bruce Springsteen songs is staggering. Lots of his lyrics, particularly in these four songs, have affected my way of thinking.”
That emotional connection provides the foundation for the project. The first three songs focus on class consciousness, unemployment and the uncertainty that accompanies economic hardship—subjects that have long formed part of Springsteen’s songwriting and which O’Hare understands from his own background. “If you grew up with the wanton threat of ‘no work’ hanging over your life”, he explains, “you will feel the weight of these narratives.”
It is a sentiment that fits naturally alongside O’Hare’s own songwriting. Since emerging with Only Child in 2012, he has quietly built one of Merseyside’s most respected catalogues of contemporary folk and Americana-inspired music. Across five albums and a series of EPs, his songs have consistently explored memory, community, family and working-class identity with warmth, empathy and understated craftsmanship.
Critics have praised Only Child – myself included – for creating deeply emotional music that places storytelling firmly at its heart. That emphasis on storytelling makes Springsteen an entirely logical source of inspiration. Like the American songwriter, O’Hare has always been interested in ordinary people and extraordinary resilience rather than romanticised myths of working-class life.
Yet this new EP is not an exercise in imitation. O’Hare has deliberately reimagined each arrangement, reshaping the songs through changes in key, instrumentation and tempo. His intention is not to recreate the originals but to illuminate them from a different perspective.
“The music in them all offers hope,” he explains “and I’ve structured each song with that in mind, hoping that the gift of hindsight offers an alternative route to the same destination. Take the coast road with me!”
That invitation perfectly captures the spirit of the project. The destination may be familiar, but the journey promises to reveal fresh details that perhaps went unnoticed first time around.
For listeners already immersed in Springsteen’s catalogue, the EP offers an opportunity to hear these songs refracted through a distinctly British sensibility. The themes of economic insecurity, dignity in work and the search for belonging translate effortlessly across the Atlantic, finding echoes in communities far removed from the New Jersey shoreline.
For those discovering Only Child for the first time, the release provides an ideal introduction to an artist whose own body of work has steadily earned admiration for its emotional honesty and beautifully crafted songwriting. O’Hare has never been interested in grand gestures or unnecessary embellishment. Instead, his music succeeds through careful observation, melodic richness and an ability to uncover hope within life’s quieter moments.
Perhaps that explains why this collaboration across generations feels so natural. Springsteen’s songs have always invited reinterpretation because they speak to experiences that remain universal. O’Hare responds not by standing in the shadow of those originals, but by gently turning them towards a different light. In doing so, Only Child reminds us that the finest songs never become museum pieces. They continue to evolve, gathering new meanings as different voices bring their own experiences to the stories they tell.
Sometimes, taking the coast road really is the most rewarding way to arrive…
Only Child Sings Springsteen – available via onlychild1.bandcamp.com/merch
