june-2012

Despite the anthemic roar
and gutsy drive of the opening
track, We Take Care of Our Own,
Wrecking Ball is not the kind of
back-to-basics E Street rock
Springsteen has been essaying in
recent years. Reaching into the
raucous roots of his Seeger
Sessions, referencing gospel, folk
and blues while bringing in drum
loops, hints of hip hop and a raw
mix that pushes the vocals high,
Springsteen appears keen to
build bridges between the past
and the present, fi nding
contemporary resonances in
timeless sources.
It also features the last sax
solo from his long-time sparring
partner and constant side man,
the late Clarence Clemons. ‘I met
Clarence when I was 22, my son’s
age, still a child really.
Something happened when
we got close, it fi red my
imagination. So losing Clarence
was like losing something
elemental, the air or the rain.
There’s just something missing.
We were lucky to get him on
Land of Hope and Dreams. When
the sax solo comes up, it’s a lovely
moment for me.’
There is, in the essence of
Springsteen’s oeuvre, a very
American sense of exulting in
the heroic underdog, but here
there is a blackness to his mood,
fuelled not just by the sense that
the dignity of the working man is
being assaulted and undermined,
but that such assaults are,
perhaps, a politically inevitable
expression of the very character
of his country.
Time and again, Springsteen
sets the image of the honest toiler
against ‘bankers’, ‘fat cats’ and
‘robber barons’. ‘An outrageous
theft occurred that struck to the
heart of the American idea,’ says
Springsteen. ‘And there has been
no accountability.’
He does, however, see cause
for optimism. ‘The Occupy Wall
Street movement has been
70—GW
B R U C E S P R I N G S T E E N
powerful about changing the
national conversation. The Tea
Party set the conversation for a
while but now people are talking
about economic equality. That’s
a conversation America hasn’t
had for 20 years.’
There is also a religious
dimension to Springsteen’s
latest songs. The album shifts
towards the spiritual uplift of
gospel music in its rousing
fi nale, evoking Jesus and the
risen dead. ‘I got brainwashed
as a child with Catholicism,’
jokes Springsteen, who says
biblical imagery increasingly
creeps into his songs almost
unbidden. ‘It’s like Al Pacino in
The Godfather: I try to get out
but they pull you back in. Once a
Wrecking Ball is Springsteen’s
Grapes of Wrath, an album for the
New Depression
Catholic, always a Catholic.’
Springsteen supported
Obama’s presidential campaign,
and We Take Care of Our Own
has already been added to the
Obama re-election playlist, yet
the often bitter tone of the
album suggests Springsteen is
not impressed with the powers
that be. He admits nevertheless
that he still supports Obama,
who he feels has achieved some
gains in a diffi cult political
environment. Springsteen
doubts he will be actively
involved in Obama’s campaign,
however. ‘As an artist, it’s better
to maintain a certain distance
from the seat of power.’
He says the only thing he was
ever really good at was making
music. ‘I enjoy artists who like to
take on the world as well as
entertain their audience. I write
to process my own experiences
and if I can do that for me, I hope
I can do that for you.’