The Line by Bruce Springsteen.

[DanCa]

I have been going over the lyrics of the Ghost of Tom Joad albulm which has alot of songs about immigration on it. This was one of the ones that got to me. Just thought I'd share.


The Line, by Bruce Springsteen.
From The Ghost of Tom Joad

I got my discharge from Fort Irwin
took a place on the San Diego county line
felt funny bein' a civilian again
it'd been some time
my wife had died a year ago
I was still tryin' to find my way back whole
went to work for the INS on the line
With the California Border Patrol

Bobby Ramirez was a ten-year veteran
We became friends
his family was from Guanajuato
so the job it was different for him
He said' "They risk death in the deserts and mountains"
pay all they got to the smugglers rings,
we send 'em home and they come right back again
Carl, hunger is a powerful thing."

Well I was good at doin' what I was told
kept my uniform pressed and clean
at night I chased their shadows
through the arroyos and ravines

drug runners, farmers with their families,
young women with little children by their sides
come night we'd wait out in the canyons
and try to keep 'em from crossin' the line

Well the first time that I saw her
she was in the holdin' pen
Our eyes met and she looked away
then she looked back again
her hair was black as coal
her eyes reminded me of what I'd lost
she had a young child cryin' in her arms
and I asked, "Senora, is there anything I can do"

There's a bar in Tijuana
where me and Bobby drink alongside
the same people we'd sent back the day before
we met there she said her name was Louisa
she was from sonora and had just come north
we danced and I held her in my arms
and I knew what I would do
she said she had some family in Madera county
if she, her child and her younger brother could just get through

At night they come across the levy
in the searchlights dusty glow
we'd rush 'em in our Broncos
and force 'em back down into the river below
she climbed into my truck
she leaned towards me and we kissed
as we drove her brothers shirt slipped open
and I saw the tape across his chest

We were just about on the highway
when Bobby's jeep come up in the dust on my right
I pulled over and let my engine run
and stepped out into his lights
I felt myself movin'
felt my gun restin' 'neath my hand
we stood there starin' at each other
as off through the arroyo she ran

Bobby Ramirez he never said nothin'
6 months later I left the line
I drifted to the central valley
and took what work I could find
at night I searched the local bars
and the migrant towns
Lookin' for my Louisa
with the black hair fallin' down

[Marie26]

1. Springsteen's such a poet

That whole album really perfectly illustrates the plight of workers, from the immigrants struggling to find a new life in the US, to the steel workers struggling to keep their old lives after the factories close. I think you can learn a lot more listening to that album than you can in 10 hours of watching CNN.

Well my daddy come on the 0hio works
When he come home from world war two
Now the yards just scrap and rubble
He said, "Them big boys did what Hitler couldn't do"
These mills they built the tanks and bombs
That won this country's wars
We sent our sons to Korea and Vietnam
Now we're wondering what they were dyin' for

From the Monongaleh valley
To the Mesabi iron range
To the coal mines of Appalacchia
The story's always the same
Seven-hundred tons of metal a day
Now sir you tell me the world's changed
Once I made you rich enough
Rich enough to forget my name

[DanCa]

2. You can get his lyrics here

www.brucespringsteen.net I can't wait for his tribute to Peter Seeger albulm.

[Marie26]

15. A Seeger tribute album? Cool.

I didn't know he was doing that. I'll have to buy that one.

[Up2Late]

3. I LOVE that album! I only got it last year. Here's another great lyric...

<http://www.xs4all.nl/~maroen/engels/album/cdjoad.htm>

THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD
from: The Ghost Of Tom Joad

...Now Tom said "Mom, wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight 'gainst the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me Mom I'll be there
Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand
Or decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me."

The highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' downhere in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad...

That album just keeps getting better every time I listen to it.

Another great track:

GALVESTON BAY

...One humid Texas night there were three shadows on the harbor
Come to burn the Vietnamese boats into the sea
In the fire's light shots rang out
Two Texans lay dead on the ground
Le stood with a pistol in his hand

A jury acquitted him in self defense
As before the judge he did stand
But as he walked down the courthouse steps
Billy said "My friend, you're a dead man"

One late summer night Le stood watch along the waterside
Billy stood in the shadows
His K-bar knife in his hand
And the moon slipped behind the clouds

Le lit a cigarette, the bay was as still as glass
As he walked by Billy stuck his knife into his pocket
Took a breath and let him pass...

I can't recomend "The Ghost Of Tom Joad" enough.

[DanCa]

4. Have you listened to his Nebraska albulm yet?

It has alot of good tracks on it that I'd think you'd enjoy. I personally can't wait to hear his version of John Henry when his next album Segeer Seesions is released.

[Up2Late]

5. I have Nebraska on Cassette Tape!

(I just bought the CD too) It's one of the reasons I bought "...Tom Joad," I heard someone say that it was, "...his best acoustic Album since "Nebraska."

I was really shocked last year, that I had never even heard of "The Ghost of Tom Joad," I kind of gave up on Bruce after "Human Touch" and "Lucky Town" back whenever those crappy CD's came out.

"The Rising" is great too, I haven't heard "Devil's and Dust" yet.

If you like Bruce, you should check out this interview from last year: <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5079313>

Bruce Springsteen: 30 Years of 'Born to Run'

Listen to this story...(at link above)
by Terry Gross
Fresh Air from WHYY, November 15, 2005 ·
In November, Columbia Records released the Born to Run 30th Anniversary Edition
boxed set. The three-CD set includes a remastering of Springsteen's
Born to Run album, released in 1975. The box set also includes a concert
DVD of a never-before seen 1975 concert from London and a documentary
about the making of Born to Run. This interview originally aired on Nov. 15, 2005.

[DanCa]

8. Devils and Dust is what brought me back to listening to the Boss.

If you love acoustic Bruce this albulm is a must have. He just keeps getting better and better with each new acoustic production.

[Marie26]

16. Such a sad song. It's about the Iraq War, isn't it? nt

[DanCa]

19. yes

The lyrics can be found at www.brucespringsteen.net. Just click on the albulm on the top of the page and it'll give you links to the songs on the albulm.

[OneBlueSky]

6. We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions . . . due out April 25 . . .

I can't wait for the new Springsteen CD that's his tribute to Pete, who I've known for a long time . . . they got acquainted at the Grammy ceremonies a few years back when Pete won for Best Traditional Folk Album and Springsteen won for Best Contemporary Folk Album . . . seems they hit it off, and Bruce became even more a Seeger fan than he already was . . . to the extent of putting together an entirely new band to create this tribute and do a tour . . . I'm really looking forward to this one . . . :)



We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

Track Listings
1. Old Dan Tucker
2. Jessie James
3. Mrs. McGrath
4. Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep
5. John Henry
6. Erie Canal
7. Jacob's Ladder
8. My Oklahoma Home
9. Eyes On The Prize
10. Shenandoah
11. Pay Me My Money Down
12. We Shall Overcome
13. Froggie Went A-Courtin'
14. Buffalo Gals (bonus track)
15. How Can I Keep From Singing (bonus track)

Amazon.com Description
'We Shall Overcome The Seeger Sessions' features Bruce's personal interpretations of thirteen traditional songs, all of them associated with the legendary guiding light of American folk music, Pete Seeger, for whom the album is named. Speaking of the origins of the new music, Springsteen said, "So much of my writing, particularly when I write acoustically, comes straight out of the folk tradition. Making this album was creatively liberating because I have a love of all those different roots sounds... they can conjure up a world with just a few notes and a few words." Springsteen recorded the album with a large ensemble. The musicians on the record are Springsteen (guitar, harmonica, B3 organ and percussion), Sam Bardfeld (violin), Art Baron (tuba) Frank Bruno (guitar), Jeremy Chatzy (upright bass), Mark Clifford (banjo), Larry Eagle (drums and percussion), Charles Giordano (B3 organ, piano and accordion), Ed Manion (saxophone), Mark Pender (trumpet), Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg (trombone) and Soozie Tyrell (violin). Lisa Lowell, Patti Scialfa, Springsteen, Pender, Tyrell, and Rosenberg contribute backing vocals.
'We Shall Overcome The Seeger Sessions' will be released in DualDisc format, with the full album on one side of the disc and DVD content on the other side. The 30 minute video side of the DualDisc contains extensive behind the scenes footage of the recording of the album. In addition, the DualDisc package will contain two bonus tracks and a special booklet including a note from Springsteen.

[Nikki Stone1]

7. Springsteen is a true artist in a world of media creations

Bless him and a long life to him.

[Marnieworld]

9. Beautiful

I love Bruce so much. His poetry is always informed and inspired by his endless compassion and empathy for people. He uses his gifts for the greater good. An incredible artist and an incredible person.

[madokie]

10. The wild, the innocent and the e street shuffle

The first cd I ever bought, just drug it out and listening now.

[Up2Late]

12. Did you ever hear his first Album,"Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J.?"

It's a little rough around the edges, but not one to miss if you like "The wild, the innocent and the e street shuffle."



<http://www.brucespringsteen.net/albums/index.html>

<http://www.brucespringsteen.net/>

[madokie]

14. Yes I have it and you are so right. the wild, the innocent and the

e street shuffle is my favorite of favorites.

[Marie26]

17. I love "Growin' Up".

The rest are a little so-so in comparison, but still great compared to most other artists.

[DanCa]

18. At the devils and dust concert concert in chicago

He did Growing Up with a ukele. The mans awesome he played six or seven instruments including an organ, a uke, and a harpsichord. Not to mention the harmonica. He's an absolute phenom.

[peekaloo]

11. Sinaloa Cowboys is the song that gets me every time.

great album.

[DanCa]

13. Matamoros Banks of the D&D cd ....

Makes me cry every time.