Bruce Springsteen's first single "We Take Care of Our Own", off his forthcoming album "Wrecking Ball", opens with pounding drums and a guitar screaming like a siren. The song is a call to action and a populist anthem that follows up where "Born in the USA" left off. With a nod to the Clash, the cover of the single is a blurry, black and white photo of a black leather and guitar clad Springsteen overlaid with crudely scrawled white type that evokes the windows of closed up storefronts and used car lots.
"Where are the eyes with the will to see?" Springsteen wails. From his vantage point, good hearts have been turned to stone. We are our brother's keeper. But what happened? "From Chicago to New Orleans, from the muscle to the bone, From the shotgun shack to the Superdome", Springsteen growls. "Where's the promise from sea to shining sea?"
photo by Gregg Chadwick
The album was recorded before the current occupy Wall Street protests, but as a devoted follower of John Steinbeck and Woody Guthrie, Springsteen had his finger on the pulse of a country that has succumbed to greed and apathy. For most of Springsteen's career, the American Dream was a false promise. Now Springsteen realizes that we are a nation of citizens that need to take care of each other, that the promise can be realized if we take care of our own.
Much more to follow...
Listen to Bruce Springsteen's New Single "We Take Care of Our Own": at New Bruce
Available Now from iTunes in the UK at
Available tomorrow -Thursday, January 19, 2012 - at Amazon in the US
Further Discussions on Springsteen's "We Take Care of Our Own":
Gregg Chadwick
Belle Ville
11"x11" oil on linen 2005
Private Collection Los Angeles
"From Chicago to New Orleans, From the Muscle to the Bone, From the Shotgun Shack to the Superdome"
Lyrics to "We Take Care of Our Own" by Bruce Springsteen
(No mondegreens I hope):
I've been knockin' on the door that holds the throne
I've been lookin' for the map that leads me home
I've been stumblin' on good hearts turned to stone
The road of good intentions has gone dry as a bone
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
Wherever this flag 's flown
We take care of our own
From Chicago to New Orleans
From the muscle to the bone
From the shotgun shack to the Superdome
There ain't no help, the cavalry stayed home,
There ain't no one hearing the bugle blown
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
Wherever this flag 's flown
We take care of our own
Where are the eyes, the eyes with the will to see?
Where are the hearts, that run over with mercy?
Where's the love that has not forsaken me?
Where's the work that'll set my hands, my soul free?
Where's the spirit that'll reign, reign over me?
Where's the promise, from sea to shining sea?
Where's the promise, from sea to shining sea?
Wherever this flag is flown
Wherever this flag is flown
Wherever this flag is flown
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
Wherever this flag 's flown
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
Wherever this flag 's flown
We take care of our own
More Song by Song Reviews of Wrecking Ball:
More at:
"Bruce Springsteen's widescreen vision of America on Wrecking Ball is filled with terror, tension, tenacity and above all else, triumph which may not replenish your bank account, but it will replenish your soul."
-Anthony Kuzminski, Bruce Springsteen - Wrecking Ball, antiMusic
From Down Under: Sean Sennett Talks With Springsteen About Wrecking Ball
All Things Shining by Hubert Dreyfus and Sean Dorrance Kelly
The Working Man's Voice - The Wall Street Journal
A More Chaste Review of You've Got It by Jonathan Lack
Parsing the Samples and Quotes on Wrecking Ball
Bruce Springsteen, Théatre Marigny press conference, Paris, February 2012
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