"The Promised Land" studio recording
Do you live to work or work to live?
One of the consequences of the industrial revolution and the fervent economic progress in American history is the fact that many people work to live. Whether it’s a migrant worker traveling across the country to pick fruit or a single mother working two full time jobs to support her family, many people’s lives are nothing but their work. The path to a more fulfilling job that not only provides a reasonable wage and also enriches their lives for many people seems unattainable.
I’m not going to try and blame any group of people or “society” for the fact that some people feel forced to work jobs they hate, but it is undeniable that work for many people including close friends is a necessity, a burden and one of the more depressing parts of life. If everyone only worked because they wanted to, not because they had to the American workforce would look very different and it would reveal the difficult choices and perseverance that keeps people going to work and this country of ours running.
When Bruce Springsteen released “Promised Land” in 1978, America was in the worst decade for economic performance since the 1920s. The misery index (combination of the unemployment rate and the inflation rate) rose to an all time high by the end of the decade. Whether this was due to the growth in the Japanese economy, the oil crisis in 1973 and 1979 or the government’s mismanagement of the economy, people were hurting.
Many musicians in popular music focused on escapism. With disco still central in the culture, many artists focused on joy through excess and creating images of wealth for people to aspire to. So when Springsteen came out, a vision of the working man, looking like a someone who just got off working a night shift in a factory, he spoke out for the struggling working man because that is what he truly was.
This was a man who wore jeans on stage, had scraggily hair and had enough biceps to back you up in a bar fight. He doesn’t sing with the cleaned up tone and he doesn’t sing about their idealized romantic love. What Bruce sings about is the reality of the struggles in people’s lives and expresses them through a spirit of undying hope.
The first verse of “Promised Land” begins speaking about driving through the Utah desert. The narrator is enjoying the freedom of driving thinking back on the fact that he works all day and drives all night “chasing some mirage.” That illusion is that feeling of driving through a open space feeling the cool wind in your hair and for a moment feeling free of responsibility. At the end of the first verse, he assures us that soon he will take charge. A change is coming, something will happen and we get a sense that this is more than a dream. Many people work jobs for years and talk about taking a chance and making big change in their lives and Bruce taps into this idea, this belief.
The chorus speaks to a deep sense of frustration and restlessness.
The dogs on Main Street howl
'cause they understand
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister I ain't a boy, no I'm a man
And I believe in a promised land
The dogs, are not only the animals but other working people who understand that if the narrator could take one moment and control their destiny, stand up for himself something huge could happen. Bruce sings “mister I ain’t a boy, no I’m a man” like it means something. The fact that he is a man means that he deserves to be treated a respect. This is more then a declaration of adulthood or manhood but a declaration of humanity. The Promised Land alludes to the goal of Israel as Moses led the Jews through the desert from Egypt. It’s not so much that the narrator believe in the promise land that is important but rather that he believes in something. In saying our beliefs, we are stating what we believe in. Moreover we are declaring that we are strong enough because of the fact that we believe in something to change your lives.
The second verse is about the struggle of going to work every day. Bruce sings about doing the best he can, working hard but it hurts. He feels like it is blinding and it makes him feel “so weak, I just want to explode.” It’s doing the same monotonous activity for 8 hours and just wanting to scream at the top of your lungs “let me out!” Doing a job that you hate not only breaks down the spirit but is a physical pain, a cancer and Bruce describes this as something that he can cut form his heart. In the end of this verse like the end of the first verse, there is a call to action and Bruce takes that first step in the last verse.
The narrator takes a journey in the third verse. He sees a storm rising in the desert, and decides to back his bags and head straight into the storm.
There's a dark cloud rising from the desert floor
I packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm
Gonna be a twister to blow everything down
That ain't got the faith to stand its ground
There is a tornado coming and the narrator has no realistic hope of fighting the storm but there is something deeper, more powerful at work here. Bruce points out that the storm doesn’t have faith and argues that belief in a single man is stronger then any force of nature. Bruce screams out to the tornado to do its worst.
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted.
In facing the storm, Bruce challenges the twister to take away everything that holds him back. Broken dreams, hoping for things that never come true tear you apart and constantly break your hearts. Letting go of lies is about getting to the truth of our belief, where our perseverance and our power truly lies.
There are times in my life when I need to listen to this song like I need to breathe air. When I’ve worked 12 hour days and have to go to work early in the morning hearing the two drum hits and the harmonica is like opening doors to everything that gets me through the struggles in my day. The organ that dances throughout the song sparkles reminding me that that there will be a sunrise after the night, no matter how dark it is.
As we were reminded that we have nothing to fear but fear itself in the great depression, “Promised Land” assures us that there is nothing we can’t endure as long as we hang on to what we believe.
One of the consequences of the industrial revolution and the fervent economic progress in American history is the fact that many people work to live. Whether it’s a migrant worker traveling across the country to pick fruit or a single mother working two full time jobs to support her family, many people’s lives are nothing but their work. The path to a more fulfilling job that not only provides a reasonable wage and also enriches their lives for many people seems unattainable.
I’m not going to try and blame any group of people or “society” for the fact that some people feel forced to work jobs they hate, but it is undeniable that work for many people including close friends is a necessity, a burden and one of the more depressing parts of life. If everyone only worked because they wanted to, not because they had to the American workforce would look very different and it would reveal the difficult choices and perseverance that keeps people going to work and this country of ours running.
When Bruce Springsteen released “Promised Land” in 1978, America was in the worst decade for economic performance since the 1920s. The misery index (combination of the unemployment rate and the inflation rate) rose to an all time high by the end of the decade. Whether this was due to the growth in the Japanese economy, the oil crisis in 1973 and 1979 or the government’s mismanagement of the economy, people were hurting.
Many musicians in popular music focused on escapism. With disco still central in the culture, many artists focused on joy through excess and creating images of wealth for people to aspire to. So when Springsteen came out, a vision of the working man, looking like a someone who just got off working a night shift in a factory, he spoke out for the struggling working man because that is what he truly was.
This was a man who wore jeans on stage, had scraggily hair and had enough biceps to back you up in a bar fight. He doesn’t sing with the cleaned up tone and he doesn’t sing about their idealized romantic love. What Bruce sings about is the reality of the struggles in people’s lives and expresses them through a spirit of undying hope.
The first verse of “Promised Land” begins speaking about driving through the Utah desert. The narrator is enjoying the freedom of driving thinking back on the fact that he works all day and drives all night “chasing some mirage.” That illusion is that feeling of driving through a open space feeling the cool wind in your hair and for a moment feeling free of responsibility. At the end of the first verse, he assures us that soon he will take charge. A change is coming, something will happen and we get a sense that this is more than a dream. Many people work jobs for years and talk about taking a chance and making big change in their lives and Bruce taps into this idea, this belief.
The chorus speaks to a deep sense of frustration and restlessness.
The dogs on Main Street howl
'cause they understand
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister I ain't a boy, no I'm a man
And I believe in a promised land
The dogs, are not only the animals but other working people who understand that if the narrator could take one moment and control their destiny, stand up for himself something huge could happen. Bruce sings “mister I ain’t a boy, no I’m a man” like it means something. The fact that he is a man means that he deserves to be treated a respect. This is more then a declaration of adulthood or manhood but a declaration of humanity. The Promised Land alludes to the goal of Israel as Moses led the Jews through the desert from Egypt. It’s not so much that the narrator believe in the promise land that is important but rather that he believes in something. In saying our beliefs, we are stating what we believe in. Moreover we are declaring that we are strong enough because of the fact that we believe in something to change your lives.
The second verse is about the struggle of going to work every day. Bruce sings about doing the best he can, working hard but it hurts. He feels like it is blinding and it makes him feel “so weak, I just want to explode.” It’s doing the same monotonous activity for 8 hours and just wanting to scream at the top of your lungs “let me out!” Doing a job that you hate not only breaks down the spirit but is a physical pain, a cancer and Bruce describes this as something that he can cut form his heart. In the end of this verse like the end of the first verse, there is a call to action and Bruce takes that first step in the last verse.
The narrator takes a journey in the third verse. He sees a storm rising in the desert, and decides to back his bags and head straight into the storm.
There's a dark cloud rising from the desert floor
I packed my bags and I'm heading straight into the storm
Gonna be a twister to blow everything down
That ain't got the faith to stand its ground
There is a tornado coming and the narrator has no realistic hope of fighting the storm but there is something deeper, more powerful at work here. Bruce points out that the storm doesn’t have faith and argues that belief in a single man is stronger then any force of nature. Bruce screams out to the tornado to do its worst.
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted.
In facing the storm, Bruce challenges the twister to take away everything that holds him back. Broken dreams, hoping for things that never come true tear you apart and constantly break your hearts. Letting go of lies is about getting to the truth of our belief, where our perseverance and our power truly lies.
There are times in my life when I need to listen to this song like I need to breathe air. When I’ve worked 12 hour days and have to go to work early in the morning hearing the two drum hits and the harmonica is like opening doors to everything that gets me through the struggles in my day. The organ that dances throughout the song sparkles reminding me that that there will be a sunrise after the night, no matter how dark it is.
As we were reminded that we have nothing to fear but fear itself in the great depression, “Promised Land” assures us that there is nothing we can’t endure as long as we hang on to what we believe.
You know, I had never thought about the words to this song that much. You brought up some very interesting points. I like it when I can figure out why you're listening to a song constantly!
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