When Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th president of the United States last week, Bruce Springsteen must have been wearing a broad smile. Over the past year or so Obama is not the only one who’s been working on a dream, with his and Springsteen’s visions inevitably tied together coming as they did within a week of each other. Obama speaks reality, hope and looking to the future, making eye contact with the common people. These are traits that Springsteen has traded in over his lengthy career and with his 16th studio album you can still detent their glint in his music, with Working On A Dream being a record bursting with tales of everyday life shot through with humanity and hope…
Springsteen put in many hours on Obama’s campaign trail, showing his support for the Chicago senator. In return, Obama has been quoted as saying that he only ran for president because he couldn’t be Bruce Springsteen. However, although you might expect this album to be a mass of political statement, it isn’t. Rather, it’s Springsteen’s trademark weathered vocals over country, rock, blues, skiffle and he even manages to fit in a few strings too.
The record opens with the epic Outlaw Pete, the story of one man’s life struggles which is classic Springsteen. At eight minutes long it’s not radio-friendly, but it is the core of what Springsteen does - bruised lyrics and country rock leanings. My Lucky Day and This Life are uplifting, hopeful tracks with enough sax and E Street Band magic to ensure they deliver; and blue-collar anthem Working On A Dream is the pinnacle of hope, a song nurtured in the hope of the Obama miracle. There’s tenderness too on Life Itself, skiffle on the contemplative Tomorrow Never Knows and the dealings with death in The Last Carnival, a tribute to E Street Band stalwart Danny Federici who died last year. To close, the bonus track of The Wrestler - from the Mickey Rourke movie of the same name - again highlights Springsteen’s adept knack of writing poignant songs for films, as Philadelphia showed back in 1994.
In a credit crunchie time, this is the album that everyone should listen to for a spot of comfort. It deals with the vagaries of everyday life, including love, loss, hope and even falling for a girl in the grocery store on Queen Of The Supermarket. This is a record of its time, which is quite something when the architect is nearing 60. However, Springsteen has always had a handle on poignant musical tales and right now he’s got his finger on the world pulse, beating once again with the American dream.
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Bruce Springsteen’s Working On A Dream is out now.
(Clare Lydon)
