Bruce Springsteen's Song Analysis

The narrator from Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska holds a nihilistic view of the world, and he only expresses concern for his baby, the young female cohort to his crimes. In this song, the killer speaks directly to a “sir” who is later revealed to be the sheriff. Moreover, the killer feels zero remorse for his transgressions and explains to the sheriff that he only wanted to have a “good time” with his baby. Even so, he says that he killed for no other reason than that there is a “meanness in this world” which suggests that the killer held no ulterior motives for the serial murders.
However, while the narrator is fairly indifferent about the heinous crimes he committed, he is careful to reword his actions to seem more reserved when he describes the killings as they happened when accompanied
It is because he struggles that he opens up to the sheriff to begin with, and it is why he cannot fathom his girlfriend taking part in the murders alongside him, yet can articulate himself as killing the people on his own. Therefore, I believe that somewhere in his mind the narrator realizes that murdering is not right, and that explains why he defends his baby so much. Likewise, his moral dilemma is more apparent when he pleads for the sheriff to let his girl die with him though he does not state it outright. Because of his obsession, because he holds her in the highest and most innocent esteem, it is almost as if he is saying “if I cannot be with her, then no one can.” Ultimately, this piece encapsulated the mindset of a delusional killer remarkably, and I believe that it provides an excellent, yet realistic dialogue that could occur between someone like a convicted murderer and