Many storytellers make use of the experiences they're interested in and the people around them for inspiration. Perhaps Springsteen played more with the blue collar cosplay for marketing purposes and never let go of it.

With some light research on the ever reliable Wikipedia, Springsteen took the title from the original title of a movie that he was potentially gonna play the lead.

The Movie was titled "Light of Day" starring Michael J. Fox

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_of_Day