A lot of that stuff is just Jon rewriting the songs of his youth... He steals and borrows stuff from other songs and uses them in his. Just compare Springsteens lyrics to Jon's for example. Thin Lizzy's Phil Lynott is also one of the early influences. And if you dig into Tom Waits' or Elvis Costellos work, I'm pretty sure you'll find lots of similarities.

I.e. "it's better to burn out that fade away" is by Neil Young, (almost the same)., Springsteens "Drive All Night", Dire Straits' "Romeo and Juliet"...

But I guess it's okay. Springsteen's been singing about cars and rivers for ages now and it still sounds fresh.

Ice