Bruce Springsteen Wrote an Obama Campaign Song?

January 22nd, 2012 10:31 PM

Over at Think Progress, liberal culture blogger Alyssa Rosenberg loves the new Bruce Springsteen single titled “We Take Care Of Our Own”: “The Boss is in full rallying cry mode...This seems practically designed to be played at Obama-Biden rallies (if not the Democratic National Convention itself). The choice of Chicago as the origin point for that sense of mutual care seems pretty deliberate.”

So it’s funny to see music writer Randall Roberts in the Los Angeles Times slamming the Boss for “jingoism” and overtones from the movie “Deliverance," perhaps because the lyrics refer to a flag being flown:    

Granted, the title phrase borders on jingoism, and in the wrong hands can be both used to justify actions noble and contemptible, from coming together as a family to help kin, to protecting territory from outsiders a la "Deliverance"...

Is it classic Springsteen? Comments are open for your response. But mostly it depends on which Bruce you like: the one who sets out to be the Voice of the People and speak for the 99% a la Woody Guthrie, or the one who goes small and captures the voice of a single character a la "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and "State Trooper." The new song is much more the former than the latter; Springsteen obviously knows what time it is, and it's time to step up and say something big.