WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 Even as his fame and wealth have soared over the decades, Bruce Springsteen has retained the voice of the working class' balladeer, often weighing in on politics 鈥 most notably when he was a regular presence on Barack Obama's presidential campaign.
This month, though, his music and public statements have ended up as
At a concert in Manchester, England, Springsteen calling him an 鈥渦nfit president鈥 leading a 鈥渞ogue government鈥 of people who have 鈥渘o concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American.鈥
鈥淭he America I love, the America I鈥檝e written about that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,鈥 Springsteen said in words that he included on (A few more days later, he began another gig with the nonpolitical but saliently titled track 鈥淣o Surrender.鈥)
Trump shot back and highly overrated. 鈥淣ever liked him, never liked his music or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he鈥檚 not a talented guy 鈥 just a pushy, obnoxious JERK,鈥 he wrote on social media.
For decades, Springsteen has salted his songs with social and political commentary, and it's hardly surprising: One of his self-described musical heroes, the activist folk singer Woody Guthrie, played a guitar upon which was written, 鈥淭his machine kills fascists.鈥
Here is a look at some Springsteen lyrics that ventured into current events and the plights of people caught up in them.
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鈥楤orn in the USA鈥
LYRIC: Down in the shadow of the penitentiary, out by the gas fires of the refinery: I鈥檓 10 years burnin鈥 down the road; nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go."
YEAR/ALBUM: 1984, 鈥淏orn in the USA鈥
BACKSTORY: Springsteen's most misinterpreted song 鈥 misread by Ronald Reagan and many politicians after him 鈥 tells the tale of a Vietnam vet who lost his brother in the war and came home to no job prospects and a bleak future. The driving, catchy chorus 鈥 composed primarily of the words from the song's title, which made misunderstanding it easier 鈥 turned it into an anthem, albeit one that was not a burst of patriotism but a bitter description of veterans' circumstances.
鈥楳y Hometown鈥
LYRIC: 鈥淣ow Main Street鈥檚 whitewashed windows and vacant stores/Seems like there ain鈥檛 nobody wants to come down here no more.鈥
YEAR/ALBUM: 1984, 鈥淏orn in the USA鈥
BACKSTORY: As he moved into his second decade of fame, Springsteen started touching on themes of economic distress more. 鈥淢y Hometown鈥 is about a 35-year-old man remembering how he used to ride proudly around his town with his father when he was little. But now, he laments, 鈥渢hey鈥檙e closin鈥 down the textile mill across the railroad track. Foreman says, 鈥楾hese jobs are goin鈥, boys, and they ain鈥檛 comin鈥 back.'鈥
鈥楢merican Skin (41 Shots)鈥
LYRIC: 鈥淣o secret, my friend 鈥 you can get killed just for living in your American skin.鈥
YEAR/ALBUM: 2001, 鈥淟ive in New York City.鈥
BACKSTORY: A song written about the 1999 police killing of unarmed Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo, who was standing in front of his apartment building in the Bronx when he was peppered with 41 bullets 鈥 19 of which went into his body. The case captivated and divided New York City, and the song鈥檚 release alienated Springsteen from some of his fan base, which included cops (whose lives he had sometimes chronicled in earlier songs like 鈥淗ighway Patrolman鈥).
'The Ghost of Tom Joad'
LYRIC: "Shelter line stretchin鈥 鈥榬ound the corner. Welcome to the new world order. Families sleepin鈥 in their cars in the southwest 鈥 no home. no job, no peace, no rest."
YEAR/ALBUM: 1995, 鈥淭he Ghost of Tom Joad鈥
BACKSTORY: Keying in on the ethos and tone of Steinbeck's Depression-era classic 鈥淭he Grapes of Wrath,鈥 Springsteen chronicles modern-day people at the fringes of society trying to get by on the road. 鈥淭he highway is alive tonight,鈥 he says, 鈥渂ut nobody鈥檚 kiddin鈥 nobody about where it goes.鈥
鈥楾he Line鈥
LYRIC: "At night they come across the levy in the searchlight's dusty glow. We鈥檇 rush 鈥榚m in our Broncos and force 鈥檈m back down into the river below."
YEAR/ALBUM: 1995, 鈥淭he Ghost of Tom Joad鈥
BACKSTORY: The tale of a lonely, widowed border patrol agent who falls for one of the illegal immigrants caught crossing the border. It leads him to confront his hypocrisy and leave the job, still searching for the woman he met fleetingly. Its companion song on the album, 鈥淎cross the Border,鈥 was written from the perspective of a Mexican man dreaming of America ("For you I鈥檒l build a house high upon a grassy hill, somewhere across the border").
'The Rising'
LYRIC: "Lost track of how far I鈥檝e gone 鈥 how far I鈥檝e gone, how high I鈥檝e climbed. On my back鈥檚 a 60-pound stone; on my shoulder a half-mile line."
YEAR/ALBUM: 2002, 鈥淭he Rising鈥
BACKSTORY: Barely a year after 鈥淎merican Skin,鈥 Springsteen turned back to first responders in the wake of 9/11, venerating them with a song that tells of a firefighter ascending the steps of one of the Twin Towers to save people 鈥 and, presumably dying along the way. He sings of a 鈥渟ky of blackness and sorrow, sky of love, sky of tears, sky of glory and sadness, sky of mercy, sky of fear.鈥 He takes no political position but 鈥 in his typical way 鈥 shows one of history's most political events through the lens of a regular person caught up in it.
鈥楯ack of All Trades鈥
LYRIC: 鈥淭he banker man grows fat, working man grows thin. It鈥檚 all happened before and it鈥檒l happen again.鈥
YEAR/ALBUM: 2012, 鈥淲recking Ball鈥
BACKSTORY: A lament from an underemployed American man who can鈥檛 get more than odd jobs after the financial crisis of 2007-2008. The work he does as a handyman sends him toward hopelessness, and he feels a lack of dignity. 鈥淵ou lose what you鈥檝e got and you learn to make do. You take the old, you make it new,鈥 the protagonist sings. But, he also allows, 鈥淚f I had me a gun, I鈥檇 find the bastards and shoot 鈥檈m on sight.鈥
鈥楧eath to My Hometown鈥
LYRIC: 鈥淪end the robber barons straight to hell 鈥 the greedy thieves who came around and ate the flesh of everything they found. Whose crimes have gone unpunished now, who walk the streets as free men now.鈥
YEAR/ALBUM: 2012, 鈥淲recking Ball鈥
BACKSTORY: Springsteen revisits the theme of a dying hometown, this time with more aggressiveness than lament, keying in on the financial crisis of 2007-2008. It functioned as a protest song and a rallying cry against greed and its carriers. The same album featured the song 鈥淲recking Ball,鈥 a defiant challenge to people who would tear down beloved parts of northern New Jersey in the name of 鈥減rogress.鈥
'Galveston Bay'
LYRIC: 鈥淏illy sat in front of his TV as the South fell and the communists rolled into Saigon. He and his friends watched as the refugees came, settled on the same streets and worked the coast they鈥檇 grew up on.鈥
YEAR/ALBUM: 1995, 鈥淭he Ghost of Tom Joad鈥
BACKSTORY: An almost biblical parable about pain and old hatreds. A veteran in Galveston Bay, who鈥檇 fought in Vietnam, watches as an immigrant Vietnamese shrimper protects himself and sets out to kill him one night 鈥 but it ends with unexpected results and quiet hope.
'57 Channels (and Nothin鈥 On)'
LYRIC: "So I bought a .44 Magnum, it was solid steel cast. And in the blessed name of Elvis, well, I just let it blast 鈥榯il my TV lay in pieces there at my feet. And they busted me for disturbin鈥 the almighty peace.鈥
YEAR/ALBUM: 1992, 鈥淗uman Touch鈥
BACKSTORY: An expression of sardonic rage at the emptiness and hopelessness that the unremitting feed of cable TV had brought to the world. This is less political and more social, though it reflected some of the disillusionment of the age about the brain rot of popular culture. It came months before Michael Douglas鈥 anger-management-failure movie 鈥淔alling Down鈥 depicted an enraged man losing it and tearing a swath through Los Angeles because of the stresses of modern culture.
'Livin' in the Future'
LYRIC: 鈥淢y ship Liberty sailed away on a bloody red horizon. The groundskeeper opened the gates and let the wild dogs run.鈥
YEAR/ALBUM: 2007, 鈥淢agic鈥
BACKSTORY: A twist on the old-fashioned warning song, written from the vantage point of the future. ("We're livin' in the future, and none of this has happened yet.") This was a commentary on a post-9/11 America that 鈥 as the song suggests 鈥 is headed in a bad direction. Oblique but devastating, particularly with such somber words against an upbeat melody reminiscent of his early work, it suggested there was still time to correct course. Which touches on a frequent Springsteen theme: possibility amid the hardship and challenge.
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Ted Anthony, director of new storytelling and newsroom innovation for The Associated Press, has written about American culture since 1990.
Ted Anthony, The Associated Press
