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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBruce Springsteen takes on Wall Street in new album! Awesome audio-video previews at these links!
Bruce Springsteen takes on Wall StreetThe musician's 17th studio album explores many of the same themes as the Occupy Wall Street movement.
By Kim Peterson
February 21, 2012
Bruce Springsteen is furious at Wall Street, and he funneled that anger into his newest album, "Wrecking Ball."
The result is a collection of songs about the destruction of the American dream. You don't get too deep into that subject before you hit the financial crisis -- and Wall Street's role in it.
"An enormous fault line cracked the American system wide open, and its repercussions are just beginning to be felt," Springsteen said in interviews promoting the album, which comes out next month.
Springsteen's work echoes some of the themes of Occupy Wall Street, and he credits that movement with changing the national conversation. "Previous to Occupy Wall Street, there was no push-back at all saying this was outrageous -- a basic theft that struck at the heart of what America was about, a complete disregard for the American sense of history and community," he said at a press conference about the album, according to the Guardian.
Read the full article at:
http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post.aspx?post=7b0d88b3-0ae5-4ace-913b-7cc35afeccb2
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The country-folk stomper "Shackled and Drawn" has lyrics that could have almost come from the Woody Guthrie songbook: "Gambling man rolls the dice, workingman pays the bill/ Its still fat and easy up on bankers hill/ Up on bankers hill, the partys going strong/ Down here below were shackled and drawn."
Listen to this recording of "Shackled and Drawn" at:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/exclusive-stream-bruce-springsteens-new-song-shackled-and-drawn-20120221
Here's the video for the first song from the album, "We Take Care of Our Own."
Here's a live performance of another song from the album, called "Wrecking Ball" performed on October 2 at Giants Stadium.
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Exclusive: Bruce Springsteen Explains His Experimental New Album
'This is as direct a record as I ever made,' he says
By Andy Greene
Rolling Stone
February 17, 2012
Two years ago Bruce Springsteen told Rolling Stone that he had just written his first song about a "guy that wears a tie." The songwriter had spent much of his career writing about characters struggling in tough economic times, but the financial crisis convinced him it was time to write about the people and forces that brought America to this ugly point.
The result was Wrecking Ball, a scathing indictment of Wall Street greed and corruption and a look into the devastation it has wrought. "This is as direct a record as I ever made," Springsteen tells Rolling Stone. "That's with the possible exception of Nebraska, which this record has a lot in common with."
The stark subject matter is paired with an experimental sonic palette that Springsteen created with producer Ron Aniello. "The record basically started out as folk music just me and a guitar singing these songs," says Springsteen. "Then Ron brought a large library of sound that allowed me to explore like maybe a hip-hop drum loop or country-blues stomp loop. The actual drums came later. There was no preconceived set of instruments that needed to be used, I could go anywhere, do anything, use anything. It was very wide open."
Album opener "We Take Care of Our Own" poses a question: Do Americans take care of their own? The songs that follow make the answer clear: The narrator of the slow waltz "Jack of All Trades" struggles to find work, while the anti-hero of the country-folk stomper "Easy Money" decides to imitate "all them fat cats" on Wall Street by turning to crime. The similarly uptempo "Shackled and Drawn," meanwhile, offers a political analysis worthy of Woody Guthrie: "Gambling man rolls the dice, workingman pays the bill/ Its still fat and easy up on bankers hill/ Up on bankers hill, the partys going strong/ Down here below were shackled and drawn."
The album's themes shift midway through, as economic despair gives way to a quest for spiritual redemption. It ends on a hopeful note with the ambitious "We Are Alive." The song takes on an Irish-wake feel, as Springsteen celebrates Americans (and aspiring ones) who died fighting for progress: "I was killed in Maryland in 1877/ When the railroad workers made their stand/ I was killed in 1963 one Sunday morning in Birmingham/ I died last year crossing the Southern desert my children left behind in San Pablo We are alive/ And though we lie alone here in the dark/ Our souls will rise/ To carry the fire and light the spark/ To fight shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart."
Read the full article at:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/exclusive-bruce-springsteen-explains-his-experimental-new-album-20120217
Bruce Springsteen performs during the 54th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles
SomethingFishy
(4,876 posts)He's still the damn Boss. Great new material. We Take Care sounds like classic 70's Springsteen, and Shackled and Drawn has some great country/folk influence... I love the Gospel singer at the end. Can't wait for the album.
Thanks for the links BBI..
Springsteen is the real deal. He's known on the road for being one of the best acts to tour with. This new tour will be emotional as hell as it's the first E Street tour without Clarence Clemons. R.I.P.
VWolf
(3,944 posts)I've always liked Springsteen. Bon Jovi, not so much, but his humanitarian work (Habitat for Humanity) is commendable. I hear he's generally a nice guy.
samsingh
(17,599 posts)I love the boss!
Better Believe It
(18,630 posts)whatchamacallit
(15,558 posts)PotatoChip
(3,186 posts)Thanks for the heads up. K&R
Remember Me
(1,532 posts)I LOVE LOVE LOVE "Shackled and Drawn. " I don't know if I've ever heard a song that makes me want to simultaneously: (a) weep, (b) shout out and jump for joy, and (c) DANCE.
Have to go back and listen to the others. Actually, I encountered "We Take Care of Our Own" the other night on YouTube and didn't care for it that much. Maybe a 2nd listen... Or maybe I just go back to Shackled and Drawn again and again and again. (Am I repeating myself?)
Edited to add: Okay, love Wrecking Ball. Still don't understand We Take Care of Our Own. Love Springsteen's instrumentation -- esp. the trumpet in Wrecking Ball. Very groovy. This is definiely one album I'll have to get. Definitely.
Better Believe It
(18,630 posts)varelse
(4,062 posts)Neue Regel
(221 posts)Isn't Bruce Springsteen a pro-labor, small-town, union supporting guy? Then why will The Boss' Greatest Hits be released exclusively by Wal-Mart? Okay, its only his greatest hits, which you can download anyway song by song if you have the patience. But still, wtf?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/12/24/us-springsteen-idUSTRE4BN08Q20081224
Tue Dec 23, 2008
Wal-Mart will be the exclusive U.S. retailer for Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band's "Greatest Hits," which will arrive January 13, two weeks before the group's new Columbia studio album, "Working on a Dream."
Better Believe It
(18,630 posts)The CD is $12.99 and is the Special Edition with two bonus tracks!
Neue Regel
(221 posts)I just found it ironic:
Bruce Springsteen is furious at Wall Street, and he funneled that anger into his newest album, "Wrecking Ball."
The result is a collection of songs about the destruction of the American dream. You don't get too deep into that subject before you hit the financial crisis -- and Wall Street's role in it.
Did his anger metastasize before or after he assisted in the destruction of the American dream by giving Wal Mart exclusive rights to sell his Greatest Hits album in 2009? I find it difficult to take his message seriously when he has demonstrated with his actions that he is willing to sell out to the highest bidder regardless of the consequences. Just my opinion, YMMV.
Better Believe It
(18,630 posts)Better Believe It
(18,630 posts)I have a source in the industry.