With just five days left until "Wrecking Ball" is released, and given the news that Andrew Breitbart has returned to the land of fire and brimstone from which he was vomited, we need a reminder of what we're supposed to be.
Fortunately, The Boss is on the, um, ball.
Plenty has been said in preview of "Wrecking Ball" by those much more eloquent than I about the emerging album's themes and intentions. The only thing I can add is that it's clearly one of his best in years, and might well contend for one of his best ever.
In addition to the early release of "We Take Care of Our Own," Springsteen has been sneak previewing one song per day at various websites around the Intertubes. Today's offering is "Land of Hope and Dreams" -- a song he's played in concert since at least the 1999 tour -- and one that speaks again to what we are supposed to be (in a metaphor I particularly enjoy):
The lyrics:
Grab your ticket and your suitcase
Thunder's rolling down the tracks
You don't know where you're goin'
But you know you won't be back
Darlin' if you're weary
Lay your head upon my chest
We'll take what we can carry
And we'll leave the rest
Big Wheels rolling through fields
Where sunlight streams
Meet me in a land of hope and dreams
I will provide for you
And I'll stand by your side
You'll need a good companion for
This part of the ride
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
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
This Train
Dreams will not be thwarted
This Train
Faith will be rewarded
This Train
Hear the steel wheels singin'
This Train
Bells of freedom ringin'
This Train
Carries broken-hearted
This Train
Thieves and sweet souls departed
This Train
Carries fools and kings
This Train
All aboard
This Train
Dreams will not be thwarted
This Train
Faith will be rewarded
This Train
Hear the steel wheels singin'
This Train
Bells of freedom ringin'
Breitbart's America, or The Boss'?
No contest.
I can't wait to download this album...