Watch Fallon and Springsteen sing 'Born to Run,' Bridgegate edition
The Boss and the future Tonight Show host poke fun at New Jersey's embattled governor in the nicest way possible


A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Thank you for signing up to TheWeek. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
If the Jimmy Fallon-era Tonight Show is going to be like this, Jay Leno is joking on borrowed time. On Tuesday's show, Fallon performed one of his impressive in-character musical tributes, this time channeling Bruce Springsteen.
Fallon isn't the first late-night comedian to use Springsteen's breakout song "Born to Run" to poke fun at the scandal ensnaring New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), whose top aides created traffic jams on the New Jersey side of the George Washington Bridge, apparently as political payback to a Democratic mayor. But his parody is perhaps the perfect late-night response to Bridgegate — better, certainly, than the fat jokes.
Fallon's song is funny, though not all that mean-spirited, and it involves Springsteen, one of Christie's professed idols. When Springsteen joins in the performance, it's just icing on the cake. Fallon and Springsteen aren't always perfectly on the beat, and at some points Fallon does a better Springsteen than Springsteen himself (maybe it's the wig?), but it's no easy feat to come up with the pitch-perfect joke about the big political story of the day. Kudos to Fallon. Christie can take it.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
Sign up to our 10 Things You Need to Know Today newsletter
A free daily digest of the biggest news stories of the day - and the best features from our website
Peter Weber is a senior editor at TheWeek.com, and has handled the editorial night shift since the website launched in 2008. A graduate of Northwestern University, Peter has worked at Facts on File and The New York Times Magazine. He speaks Spanish and Italian and plays bass and rhythm cello in an Austin rock band. Follow him on Twitter.
-
Not a good idea
Cartoons
By The Week Staff Published
-
Are private schools safe from Starmer?
Today's Big Question Schools would pay VAT under Labour government but party scraps plans to remove charitable status
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Sam Bankman-Fried: crypto on trial
Talking point The implosion of FTX may go down as one of the biggest financial frauds in American history
By The Week Staff Published
-
Trump surrenders in Georgia election subversion case
Speed Read
By Catherine Garcia Published
-
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries chosen to succeed Pelosi as leader of House Democrats
Speed Read
By Brigid Kennedy Published
-
GOP leader Kevin McCarthy's bid for House speaker may really be in peril
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Are China's protests a real threat for Beijing?
opinion The sharpest opinions on the debate from around the web
By Harold Maass Published
-
Who is Nick Fuentes, the white nationalist who dined with Trump and Kanye?
Speed Read From Charlottesville to Mar-a-Lago in just five years
By Rafi Schwartz Published
-
Jury convicts Oath Keepers Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs of seditious conspiracy in landmark Jan. 6 verdict
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
A look at the White House's festive and homey holiday decor
Speed Read
By Brigid Kennedy Published
-
Bob Iger addresses 'Don't Say Gay' bill, says inclusion is part of Disney's values
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published