7½ West End Court — Where Bruce Springsteen Wrote "Born to Run"

In the summer of 1974, Bruce Springsteen rented a tiny cottage at 7½ West End Court in Long Branch, New Jersey — a half-numbered address in the beach community of West End, just steps from the Atlantic Ocean. It was here, in a cramped bedroom with a surfboard propped against the wall, that he wrote "Born to Run" on a beat-up guitar, labouring over the song for six months until he had something that matched the epic sound he heard in his head.

Springsteen has described the writing process as gruelling. He wanted to create a Phil Spector wall of sound crossed with the raw energy of punk, a song that captured the desperate romance of escape. The opening lines — "In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream" — poured out of the seaside isolation of this little cottage. The song and the album it anchored would transform Springsteen from a cult favourite into a global icon.

The cottage at 7½ West End Court was a modest rental in a row of small beach houses. Long Branch in the early 1970s was a faded resort town — its Victorian-era grandeur long gone, its boardwalk rough around the edges. This suited Springsteen perfectly. He'd moved here after stints in Asbury Park to be closer to the ocean and further from distractions, though the proximity to the Stone Pony and other Shore venues kept him connected to the scene.

The building still stands today as a private residence. Fans who make the pilgrimage find a quiet residential street a block from the beach — a fitting setting for the place where one of rock's most cinematic songs was born.