Raise a toast lyric
 

From Janie, Don't Take Your Love to Town: Raise a toast to your good looks and to my health


From Lucky Town (circa 1992): Here's to your good looks, now here's to my health



Did or did not Jon steal this line directly from Bruce Springsteen? I hate the oft made comparison as much as the rest of you, but... Jeez. Can't start a fire without a spark... Now this:-? Hmm...

yes, and midnight in Chelsea I see as basically Jon's take on Streets of Philadelphia.
There's a lot of stuff from over the years that you can clearly see as what you've written above, then there's the hearts of stone=never say goodbye thing.
Alot of those things Jon will stragight up admit to it, but if you call him out on it one day, My bet is that he will get pissed.

and really, it's not that everysong has a line from Bruce on it, or even an influence. So yeah, He'd get pissed off.

The beginning of August 7, 4:15 is really similar to Rockin' in the Freeworld too...Jon has said they often "borrow" stuff from other artists.

Well - I'll tell you my take on this Jon "borrowing" from Bruce debate. I'm sure he has borrowed ideas - or been inspired - by Bruce. On the other hand, something that is not usually mentioned is the actual music. Listen to the music - a Bon Jovi song is instantly recognisable as is a Bruce song (to me anyway). They may stem from a similar background or even Jon "ripping off" Bruce if you prefer the negative. But once Jon takes on the subject - whatever it is - he makes it his own.

I find that they have their own unique styles even if you can find instances of similar wording or themes.

For me - there is a time and a place to listen to each of them. Bruce can be much more dark and introspective - Jon (and Richie) seem to prefer an upbeat positive outlook.

Both of them put on live shows that kick ass. In my opinion (concert junkie that I am) very few come close to either of them live.

Kathleen

i would say the vast majority of artists "borrow".

The whole song is basically a copy. It´s just the choruses that are a bit different.

As Noel Gallagher said, the best band in the world is the band with the best music collection at home.

I would say all. One can read Genesis or Gilgamesh or any of the early Greek plays and see the same themes recycled since then. Music isn't different. It's no big deal.

I really like that quote.