Bruce Springsteen is returning with a new album on March 6th called “Wrecking Ball”. He just released a video for the song “We Take Care Of Our Own” which mixes the sounds and feelings of songs like “The Rising” and “Born in the USA”. This is the socially conscious, spiritually motivated and pissed off Springsteen. The righteous anger that he has expressed in his songs all started on the brilliant “Darkness on the Edge of Town” and he continues on as he ages.
Discovering songs like “Badlands”, “Something in the Night”, “My Father’s House” and others helped usher me into adulthood. Springsteen doesn’t look to avoid responsibility. His songs are about how to live, love, help others and fight for your dreams and passions. Some could mock him for his idealism but I give him full props for his courage to be vulnerable.
Bruce Springsteen is one of the few artists I would say actually inspires me as a human being. The balance of empathy, pointing out injustice and at the same time helping people dance and celebrate the good things in life.
What do you think of the new song and video?
With ya 100 %! Bruuuuuuuuuce! I only wish he hadn’t called the album ‘Wrecking Ball’ – - – makes me think of Neil Young’s song as well as Emmylou Harris’ masterpiece album (named after and featuring Young’s song)… I hope the album has it’s stripped down qualities, I thought “Workin’ On A Dream’ was pretty slight compared to “Magic” and especially “Devils and Dust.”… It’s interesting to me that his work’s a bit devisive; I have friends who like Dylan and Young but aren’t into the Boss; on the other hand, with a bunch of new groups – none more than Arcade Fire,- the influence of his music – in particular “Born to Run” and “Darkness” seems to to at a high. I agree about the inspiration – he’s not just a brilliant artist, he’s a great World Citizen. Dear boss, are you interested in politics?
I remember when I started listening to Bruce I was almost embarrassed because he was not at all considered cool during the 90′s. You are right about people always loving Neil Young and Dylan but thinking that Springsteen is corny or something. When I heard “Darkness on the Edge of Town” I was hooked forever. Some people also don’t seem to take Paul Simon seriously enough either. Those four artists are just all unique, incredible and very human. Of course they have released very weak albums at times…but the whole work is incredible! Even as these guys age they continue to create with passion and conviction. Glad that we share an appreciation for these artists.
Spot on!
It’s MTV… video did kill the radio star in some people’s minds. “Born in the USA” was misunderstood by millions, including then President Ronald Reagan, who thought it was so patriotic he wanted to use it as his Re-election campaign song. He was also, apparently, misinformed about Springsteen’s political leanings… The Boss wasn’t down with The Gipper.
The video’s weak but the song’s amazing.