Colleagues,
One of my all time favourite Springsteen tracks (The Ghost of Tom Joad) carriers the profound lyrics
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleepin' in their cars in the Southwest
No home no job no peace no rest
Finishing the song with narrative lifted directly from The Grapes of Wrath
Now Tom said "Mom, wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight 'gainst the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me Mom I'll be there
Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand
Or decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me."
I recommend a reading of the book as it is a classic of sociological analysis of the implications of industrialisation, economic degradation but also of the triumph of the human spirit.
I am posting the item as I have returned to the song recently and never cease to be in awe of how in crafting its structure it allows for the layering of the US depression era in the current context of the economic crisis.
YouTube has many different live versions of the song, this is one of the best.
In Solidarity
Ian
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