Hit by the Wrecking Ball
When things happen in the Bruce world they happen fast. Twenty-four hours ago we were clamoring for news about the new album. Now we've heard the first song, seen the video, analyzed the lyrics, read the official press release, and felt that rush of excitement that comes with a new Bruce release.
For the few of you who've missed it: Bruce Springsteen's new album is called Wrecking Ball and will be released in the US on March 6 (March 5 in Europe probably). The first single (as if there were still such a thing as singles) is called "We Take Care of Our Own" and can be purchased as a download from Amazon.com (by people in the US) and streamed from YouTube. There's even a video that goes with it that can also be found on YouTube.
The album will contain 11 songs. Apart from "We Take Care of Our Own", we know two of the other songs: the title track, which Bruce played live on the last part of the Working on a Dream Tour and "Land of Hope and Dreams", which needs no further introduction, except that allegedly its inclusion on the new album is a tribute to Clarence Clemons. It is not known whether "Wrecking Ball" and "Land of Hope and Dreams" are previously released live versions or brand new studio versions. Other song titles include "Rocky Ground", "Death to My Hometown" and "Easy Money". You can find the complete track list in our discography section.
The new song that was released as an appetizer today, "We Take Care of Our Own" is an anthemic full-band piece that is bound to make audiences sing along from Spain to Los Angeles. It doesn't reveal any traces of the hip-hop and other modern influences that the Hollywood Reporter quoted an anonymous source as having heard on the new album. In return, it's clearly about economic crisis and hard times, which was also mentioned in the Hollywood Reporter article. You can read the (correct) lyrics of "We Take Care of Our Own" in the lyrics section.
So while we're a lot better off today than yesterday in terms of feeding our Bruce craving, we still don't know anymore about the US tour than we did a week ago. It will probably start in March, but where and when exactly remains to be seen.
The cover of the new album.