Bruce Springsteen's New Single Bleeds Compassion

by Gregg Chadwick

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":

LA Times First Take on Pop and Hiss

Ann Powers writes for NPR on Springsteen's New Wave of Social Protest 

Salon: The Boss Embraces Occupy

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:

1. We Take Care of Our Own

2. Easy Money

3. Shackled and Drawn

4. Jack of All Trades

5. Death to My Hometown

6. This Depression

7. Wrecking Ball

8. You've Got It

9. Rocky Ground

10. Land of Hope and Dreams

11. We Are Alive

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

"What was done to my country was un-American."

Shackled and Drawn

Jack of All Trades

Death to My Hometown

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

Miley Cyrus Releases Video in Support of the #Occupy Movement

by Gregg Chadwick

In this Nov. 18 photo, UC Davis officer John Pike uses pepper spray on unarmed and non-threatening protesters.
(AP Photo/The Enterprise, Wayne Tilcock, File)






Miley Cyrus Releases Video in Support of the #Occupy Movement:

The clip pairs a remix of Cyrus' 2010 song Liberty Walk with footage from the global #Occupy protests. The video begins with an overlay indicating that the clip is "dedicated to the thousands of people who are standing up for what they believe in." Cyrus' video features powerful images of police crack downs on citizens taking a stand against economic inequity wedded to an infectious beat. Rolling Stone writes,"It's a bold move for the singer – while most of the artists who have thrown their support behind Occupy Wall Street are pretty much the usual lefty rocker suspects, Cyrus is reaching out to an audience who are likely to be either apolitical or outright hostile to her message."

As an artist, I know well the risks involved in taking political stands that might discomfort your audience. I am a fierce advocate for social justice and I believe in the sanctity of all life. I have lost sales and clients because of my activism, but life for me is much more than my bank account or social standing. With these thoughts in mind, I applaud Miley Cyrus' gutsy move and hope that more Americans will be emboldened to take a stand against the growing economic inequality in the United States.

Miley Cyrus' video also calls attention to the growing militarization of our civilian police forces. I agree with former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper "that the current epidemic of police brutality is a reflection of the militarization of our urban police forces, the result of years of the "war on drugs" and the "war on terror."

UC Davis professor Bob Ostertag writes,"These issues go to the core of what democracy means. We have a major economic crisis in this country that was brought on by the greedy and irresponsible behavior of big banks. No banker has been arrested, and certainly none have been pepper sprayed. Arrests and chemical assault is for those trying to defend their homes, their jobs, and their schools. These are not trivial matters. This is a moment to stand up and be counted. I am proud to teach at a university where students have done so."

More at:
Miley Cyrus Takes Her Party In The USA To Occupy Wall Street

Miley Cyrus
Supports Occupy Wall Street
Militarization Of Campus Police

From the 99%: Another World Is Possible

Full Video Captured From a Helicopter of Tonight's #OWS' Gigantic Bat Signals Projected onto the Verizon Building in Lower Manhattan
(Thursday, November 17, 2011)