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Man walks along the railroad track
Goin' some place, there's no turnin' back
The Highway Patrol chopper's comin' up over the ridge
Man sleeps by a campfire under the bridge
The shelter line stretchin' around the corner
Welcome to the New World Order
Families sleepin' in their cars out in the Southwest
No job, no home, no peace, no rest
And The highway is alive tonight
Nobody's kiddin nobody about where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Searchin' for the Ghost of Tom Joad
He pulls his prayer book out of a sleepin' bag
The preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
He's waitin' for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box sleepin under tha pass
With a one way ticket to the promised land
With a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand
sleepin on a pillow of solid rock
Bathin' in the cities' aqueducts
And The highway is alive tonight
And where it's headed, everybody knows
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Waitin on the Ghost of Tom Joad
Now Tom Said; "Ma, whenever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry new born baby cries
Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me ma'
I'll be there
Wherever somebodies fightin for a place to stand
For a decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody is strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes ma,
You'll see me
And the highway is alive tonight
nobody's kiddin nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
With the Ghost of Tom Joad
Goin' some place, there's no turnin' back
The Highway Patrol chopper's comin' up over the ridge
Man sleeps by a campfire under the bridge
The shelter line stretchin' around the corner
Welcome to the New World Order
Families sleepin' in their cars out in the Southwest
No job, no home, no peace, no rest
And The highway is alive tonight
Nobody's kiddin nobody about where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Searchin' for the Ghost of Tom Joad
He pulls his prayer book out of a sleepin' bag
The preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
He's waitin' for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box sleepin under tha pass
With a one way ticket to the promised land
With a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand
sleepin on a pillow of solid rock
Bathin' in the cities' aqueducts
And The highway is alive tonight
And where it's headed, everybody knows
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Waitin on the Ghost of Tom Joad
Now Tom Said; "Ma, whenever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry new born baby cries
Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me ma'
I'll be there
Wherever somebodies fightin for a place to stand
For a decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody is strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes ma,
You'll see me
And the highway is alive tonight
nobody's kiddin nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
With the Ghost of Tom Joad
Lyrics submitted by idiotic
Track duration: 04:34
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It was brilliant, available on youtube.
I think this may be a reference to the parable in the bible: Lazarus and the rich man. The parable is about Lazarus, a poor beggar who, when living, pleaded for mercy on the steps of a rich man's house. His pleas were ignored by the rich man and Lazarus died from his hunger and sores. When Lazarus died, he went straight to Heaven and was protected by Abraham there. Later, when the rich man died, the rich man went straight to Hell and was tortured by the flames. The rich man begged Abraham to have mercy on him and asked that Lazarus bring him some cool water to ease his suffering. Abraham responded by refusing mercy to the rich man and said to him that he must remember that during his lifetime he experienced many good things, and that Lazarus experienced many bad things. Now in death, the situation would be reversed and the great gulf between them (that is, between Heaven and Hell) could not be crossed.
Bruce often adds biblical references to his songs and has himself said that he grew up being influenced by Catholic religion. So, it seems to fit.
Also, the lines:
In a cardboard box sleepin under tha pass
With a one way ticket to the promised land
... could be another reference to the fact that the suffering experienced by the poor and homeless during their lifetime gives them immediate entry into Heaven. Death is like a one-way ticket because there's no return and Heaven may be described as the promised land.
Anyway, it gives the song depth as well as great sadness and sympathy for the suffering of those who are down and out.
About being a loner hobo, homeless, drifting across America looking for the American Dream.
Also, I've somehow understood it as some biblical reference, but that surely isn't my area of expertise, perhaps someone can confirm or deny that?
But I just have to leave a comment for “cubfever 7” … because you are not looking at the big picture. And I know that once you do you’ll have a change of heart about Bruce and Tom.
Yes … it’s true that the old school musicians are ALL BIG LOTTO winners who got lucky and were mass-marketed before the internet killed the record store. (Geez I miss hanging out at Tower. It was a colorful, joyful, shared environment you just can’t get with an I-Pad.)
And ya, they make millions on residuals (that newer artists will NEVER ever see and so they all end up with day jobs). And sure, they charge an arm and a leg for tickets but that’s because the REAL bad guys are running the show – not the artists.
The REAL bad guys won’t invest in new venues because they can steal more of your money by charging higher margins in the huge demand they have artificially created - by short-sheeting or fractionalizing the supply (fractionalizing the supply of concert venues and advertising channels). No new venues and no new mass-marketing means new artists have to compete for peanuts, while the big entertainment corporations make bank from a huge supply of consumers with nowhere else to go. And so the old-school performers stay in the spot light (while the new guys starve and fail to regenerate attendances). Except for a few like Cold Play and Kings of Leon.
BUT AT LEAST BRUCE AND THE OTHER MUSICIANS ARE GIVING YOU SOMETHING YOU LOVE AND REVERE FOR THE PRICE OF ADMISSION!
Your banker and your government can’t anywhere near say the same. Your banker - and you new world order. (It’s an economic war of nations and the only way the nations and multi-nations [Euro] can fight other nation conglomerations for supremacy is by sacrificing their wealth and happiness of their own serfs.) It’s a pattern of rich get richer / poor get poorer that always occurs throughout world history. It happens every 250 years. And its happening now. And it doesn’t end pretty. (The conditions in the song are not even a tenth as bad as it will actually turn out to be in the near future.)
But at least the artists aren’t stealing from you like the corporate raiders have.
The artists are staying rich by working their asses off playing their hearts out for years on the road. They are giving you the value you want. The bad guys are just stealing your cash without even providing you something in return. The bad guys say that they are providing you with a service. A service - that you can’t see - and that can’t ever play over and over again anytime you like on the stereo. At least Bruce and the rest of them are giving you your money’s worth – even while they raise money for starving countries.
You sound like a bitter roadie who didn’t win the record company LOTTO. You’re just like the rest of us. You’re in good company. But don’t blame the artists who give you what makes you sing. Blame the CEOs and their pockets full of politicians and their financiers who are tone deaf - and couldn’t care less if they kill us to make themselves feel like they exist.
Oh wait! – there’s that chopper again! I gotta run. Catch you next time. (Send me a smoke signal if you can.)
But hey - just don’t hoc the harmonica. And I won’t sell the 12-string … that way we can at least still jam (in that concrete echo chamber under the overpass).
Love ya,
WOLFFEE
Hell, I'll just post the Youtube link:
youtube.com/…
It's a brilliant performance, you guys should check it out.
It's easy for mega millionaires to fly into NYC or LA for a night and make an appearance on behalf of Haiti, but when was the last time you saw one of them with their sleeves rolled up and actually getting involved face to face? It rarely happens. Don't be so quick to deify these people. They are BIG TIME capitalists--no more --no less--regardless of their talent. Ask their roadies if they're humanitarians.
Once the tours have been completed ad nauseum what comes next? Special retrospective box DVD sets to keep the faithful pouring money into the machine--or DVDs of live concert footage. I truly do think Bruce is different and expect him to surprise somehow with some proceeds going to Haiti, but....
No one's perfect.
"Until now, the world we’ve known has been a world divided – a world of barbed wire and concrete block, conflict and cold war. Now, we can see a new world coming into view. A world in which there is the very real prospect of a new world order. In the words of Winston Churchill, a 'world order' in which 'the principles of justice and fair play ... protect the weak against the strong ...' "
Springsteen is clearly ironically quoting Bush's speech. Bush said the "new world" wouldn't be divided, and would have justice for the weak. Obviously, five years later this didn't happen and probably never will in America.
This is one of my favorite songs. As soon as I hear that opening harmonica I get chills. There's really something magical about this recording. It's a sad but beautiful commentary on the inequalities of life, 60 years after Guthrie wrote "The Ballad of Tom Joad". His ghost haunts us everyday, but still gives us hope for a better world. More so now than even in the 90s, with so many people losing their homes.