American Song
American Song is a podcast that traces the origins and development of American - and ultimately world-wide - forms of modern musical entertainment. Over time, we will trace every major genre from its origins through the current day.American Song looks at the development of our music through the lens of social, political, and economic changes that were occurring in each case, and we'll feature the most important musicians in each genre.Every episode is chock-full of the music we love and where possible, we include archival interviews so you can hear about, in the actual words and voices of these great musicians and singers, the motives and passions that drove their creativity.
American Song
Bruce Springsteen and the American Reckoning: Part Four - Breakups, Ghosts, and Trump’s America
Part Four is where the story cuts close to the bone. Bruce lets the E Street Band go, stares down his own failures on Tunnel of Love, and writes The Ghost of Tom Joad for the people that some Americans prefer not to see: migrants, the unemployed, the left-behind.
The band reunites, “American Skin (41 Shots)” forces a conversation about race and fear, and The Rising and Wrecking Ball turn grief and economic anger into something like a shared civic ritual. We carry all of that forward into Trump’s first administration and Charlottesville, and we hold Bruce’s choices up as a different model of Americanness—one where loving your country means telling it the truth and standing with the people it’s hurting, even when that costs you.
Music in This Episode: Bruce Springsteen (With and Without) the E Street Band
- Tunnel of Love
- Human Touch
- Living Proof
- The Ghost of Tom Joad
- Theme from Ken Burns 'The Civil War'*
- The Price You Pay**
- American Skin (41 Shots)
- This Land Is Your Land
Archival Interviews
- Rick Rubin/ Malcolm Gladwell
- Mark Maron
- Howard Stern
- Bank Street Podcast
*As performed by my second cousin, Molly Hines of Wilmington, NC. A massively talented violinist, during our family reunion in Yellowstone National Park; Summer, 2025. Thank you, Molly! Visit https://www.mollyjhines.com/
** E Street Band backing track; no vocals.
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