The Ghost of Tom Joad (song)

Infobox Song
Name = The Ghost of Tom Joad


Artist = Bruce Springsteen
Album = The Ghost of Tom Joad
Released = November 21, 1995
track_no = 1
Recorded = April–June 1995
Genre = Rock, folk
Length = 4:23
Label = Columbia
Writer = Bruce Springsteen
Producer = Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Plotkin
prev =
prev_no =
next =
next_no = "The Ghost of Tom Joad" is a song by Bruce Springsteen. It is the title track to his eleventh studio album, released on November 21, 1995. The character Tom Joad, from John Steinbeck's classic novel "The Grapes of Wrath", is mentioned in the title and narrative. Recorded as a quiet folk song, "The Ghost of Tom Joad" is equally well-known in a radically louder and harsher arrangement by Rage Against the Machine.

pringsteen original

Besides "The Grapes of Wrath", the song also takes inspiration from "The Ballad of Tom Joad" by Woody Guthrie, which in turn was inspired by the film "The Grapes of Wrath". Springsteen had in fact read the book, watched the film, and listened to the song, before writing "The Ghost of Tom Joad",cite book | author=Mark Allan Jackson | title=Prophet Singer: The Voice and Vision of Woody Guthrie | publisher=University Press of Mississippi | year=2007 | isbn=1-578-06915-7 | pages=255] and the result was viewed as being true to Guthrie's tradition.

However, like the rest of the album, "The Ghost of Tom Joad" is set in the early-to-mid-1990s, with contemporary times being likened to Dust Bowl

:"Men walkin' 'long the railroad tracks,:"Goin' someplace, there's no goin' back.:"Highway patrol choppers comin' up over the ridge —:"Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge.

President George H.W. Bush's New world order is mentioned, as is the contemporary demographic migration to the Southwest United States. The chorus makes clear the titular allusion:

:"The highway is alive tonight —:"But where it's headed, everybody knows.:"I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light:"Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad.

The third verse is the most direct link to "The Grapes of Wrath", being an extensive paraphrase of Tom Joad's famous "Wherever there's a ..." speech.

"The Ghost of Tom Joad" was recorded between April and June 1995, at Springsteen's Los Angeles home studio.cite web | url=http://www.brucebase.org.uk/15.htm | title=Bruce Springsteen: On the Tracks: The Ghost of Tom Joad | publisher=Brucebase | date=2006-06-06 | accessdate=2008-08-16] It was recorded with a light and muted accompaniment, featuring Springsteen on guitar and harmonia, E Street Band members Danny Federici on keyboards and Garry Tallent on bass, and session musicians Marty Rifkin on pedal steel guitar and dobro and Gary Mallaber on drums.

Springsteen's recording was given limited release as a single in The Netherlands and the UK, wherein the later it reached number 26 on the UK Singles Chart. It was not released as a single in the U.S., and radio airplay on album-oriented rock stations was practically non-existent.

Live performance history

The song opened most of the shows on the 1995–1997 solo acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad Tour, and gave audience members a clear indication as to what the night would be like. (For a few shows before and after a September 1996 Woody Guthrie-oriented benefit concert, he played "Tom Joad" instead. [cite web | url=http://www.brucebase.org.uk/gig1996.htm | title=Bruce Springsteen 1995-6 | publisher=Brucebase | accessdate=2008-08-16] )

"The Ghost of Tom Joad" continue to be featured during the 1999–2000 E Street Band Reunion Tour, in arrangement fairly close to the album's, albeit with Federici often playing accordion and Tallent on stand-up bass. In the U.S., the large arena audiences frequently treated the song's appearance as the signal for a bathroom or beer run. The song became an infrequent appearer after that, perhaps surprisingly only showing twice on the 2005 solo Devils & Dust Tour.

The song made several appearances on Springsteen's 2006 "big folk" Sessions Band Tour, in a new arrangement that featured member Frank Bruno handling some of the vocals, and two extended instrumental passages that saw soaring interplay betwen violin, pedal steel guitar, trumpet, and harmonica. One such rendition was captured on the subsequent "" album as a bonus track for PBS begathon pledgers, and was also included as the lead track of the 2007 World Hunger Year/Hard Rock Café benefit album "Serve2".

A live version of the song from the 2008 third leg of Springsteen and the E Street Band's Magic Tour featured guesting Rage Against the Machine member Tom Morello singing a verse and playing two long, departingly guitar solos, and was subsequently included on the 2008 Springsteen EP "Magic Tour Highlights" in audio and video manifestations.

Highlighting the song's political import, Springsteen included it in the "Change Rocks" acoustic performances he made at rallies in early October 2008 on behalf of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. [cite news | url=http://www.philly.com/inquirer/world_us/20081005_Set_is_short__but_Springsteen_still_long_on_emotion.html | title=Set is short, but Springsteen still long on emotion | author=DeLuca, Dan | publisher="The Philadelphia Inquirer" | date=2008-10-05 | accessdate=2008-10-05]

Rage Against the Machine version

Infobox Single | Name = The Ghost of Tom Joad


Artist = Rage Against the Machine
from Album = N/A (though later released on Renegades)
Released = 25th November 1998
Format = CD, 7", 12"
Genre = Alternative metal
Length = 5 min 38 s
Last single = "Calm Like a Bomb"
(2000)
This single = "The Ghost of Tom Joad"
(2001)
Next single = "Renegades of Funk"
(2001) |

The song was later covered by Rage Against the Machine. Their release of the song was initially included as a 'free single' which shipped with an early release of the VHS version of their 1997 home video.

The 1998 single version differs slightly from the Renegades album, as the band re-recorded the song for that album. Only a limited number of copies exist. The cover artwork is called "Police Riot" by Eric Drooker.

Music video

Rage Against the Machine made a live video for the song, shot in Irvine Meadows in September 1997. It is identical to the first version on the self-titled Rage Against the Machine video.

Track listing

#"The Ghost of Tom Joad"
#"Vietnow [Live in Detroit on the 23rd of August, 1997] "
#"The Ghost of Tom Joad [Live Version] "

Other versions

The Swedish band Junip later covered the song on their "Black Refuge EP" in 2005.

Nickelback has been known to perform "The Ghost of Tom Joad" in their concerts, in an arrangement very similar to Rage Against the Machine's. Indeed, in introductions they have identified the song as Rage's, and play it as a tribute to the band's having (at that time) broken up.

References

External links

* [http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/TheGhostOfTomJoad.html Lyrics, at official Springsteen website]
* [http://www.axisofjustice.org/ Axis of Justice] Tom Morello and Serj Tankian's Activist Website "Axis Of Justice"