Well, I'm going to take a small detour before giving you all the third punched in the face story, mostly because I need to talk about this song...
Springsteen, when he is at his best (Which he unquestionably is in this song), captures the frustration of being stuck in a working class life while tormented by bigger ambitions. He's most remembered for his moments of triumphant catharsis through escape ("Tramps like us, baby we were born to run!" "This town's full of losers, and I'm pulling out of here to win!") but the real drama comes from the sense that those escapes are false hopes and dead ends. His characters are doomed Calvinist, already damned from birth and the protagonist of this song is no different.
If anything his plight is worse, he holds no false hope of redemption. He knows the choice he makes when says "last night I met this guy and I'm going to do a little favor for him" will bring no redemption, only temporary relief before a greater hell.
Springsteen was always a great admirer of Dylan, and the entirety of the Nebraska is an attempt to wed the sonic sensibilities of a pre-electric Dylan to the Jersey Shore narratives (along with a healthy dose of Charlie Starkweather) for which the Boss was already quite famous by 82. The strategy doesn't always work, some of the songs can seem overly sparse, and other meandering...but when it does work, it is amazing...
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