Music Review: Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball (Part 2)

Death to My Hometown is a very politically charged piece, with very obvious allusions to the current political situation and overall climate of corporate culture. Bruce expresses anger and outrage at the corporate elites who have sucked the life out of American communities and hometowns all over, and who focus only on the profit margin, with no imagination or compassion towards anything else but the bottom line of making their bucks and netting short term profits. It is also one of the most overtly angry songs on the album, and that is reflected in the lyrics, as well:

            Now get yourself a song to ting

            And sing it 'til you're done

            Sing it hard and sing it well

            Send the robber barons straight to hell

            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

            This Depression is an unconventional love song, suggesting a sort of internal malaise from the singer, who openly relies on the love and support of his partner, as he adjusts to a grimmer new reality where his energy and strength have been sucked out, and he copes to find something positive:

            This is my confession

            I need your heart

            In this depression

            I need your heart

            You've Got It begins with an acoustic guitar to set the mood, but it turns a bit more rock as it goes along.

            Land of Hope and Dreams at first sounds like it will pick up on the gospel feel of much of the album, but quickly turns back to straight rock, with some acoustic parts mixed in. Once again, lyrically, Springsteen suggests a political statement of greater freedom in this piece, as well, although it also has a hint of almost a religious, all-forgiving kind of acceptance.

            Leave behind your sorrows

            Let this day be the last

            Tomorrow there'll be sunshine

            And all this darkness past

            Big wheels roll through fields

            Where sunlight streams

            Oh meet me in

            A land of hope and dreams

            This train….

            Carries saints and sinners

            This train…

            Carries losers and winners

            This train…

            Carries whores and gamblers

            This train….

            Carries lost souls

            I said this train….

            Dreams will not be thwarted

            This train….

            Faith will be rewarded

            Rocky Ground has a semi-gospel feel to it, as well, and is one of the slower songs on the album. Though slower, Michelle Moore's vocals really add a strong dimension to it that might otherwise by absent, while Springsteen's lyrics seem to linger in a Biblical tone throughout this song.

            We Are Alive is among my favorites of the album. It has a very different sound than the rest of the songs, which makes it stand out. Bruce uses his soto voce in this one, and addresses injustice in general. Yet, strangely, the song has an old western type of feel to it, but to good effect.  It is a very upbeat song, and seems capable of lifting my spirits when I listen to it.

            All in all, a solid album by Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band, and we have come to expect nothing less! It definitely has a different feel from much of his earlier works, but this is not for the worse. Rather, like a fine wine, his music has a timeless quality and ages very well!