Album Review: The Ghost of Tom Joad

Today marks the 20th anniversary of The Ghost of Tom Joad, Bruce's 11th studio album, and second acoustic album, following 1982's Nebraska.  Coming after the dual release of Human Touch and Lucky Town, this album came out at arguably the nadir of Springsteen's popularity.  While Bruce would later regain his swagger seven years later on The Rising (discussed extensively on this blog), today is a time to look back on 90s Bruce.

The Ghost of Tom Joad is an album that I have listened to very little, and have discussed even less.  In fact, in the process of writing this review, I realized that I was missing a couple tracks.  And after a few listens, I find myself, unfortunately, with very little to say on the album.

The album starts off very strong, with album stand-outs such as the title track, "Straight Time", and "Youngstown".  (It is notable to point out that "The Ghost of Tom Joad" and "Youngstown" would eventually be worked into full-on rock songs, versions that this author prefers).  There is a lot of strong lyrics on this album, too.  For example, the "where there's a...." part in "The Ghost of Tom Joad", while lifted from the book, is particularly strong - so strong, in fact, you can find similar sentiments in future songs such as "The Wrestler" and "We Are Alive".  Bruce's musical work here excels when there is a band accompaniment, as they add diversity and flourish to a rather bleak album.

However, the back half of the album drags, as many songs begin to blend together.  The formula is the same on many songs: Bruce's voice is high in the mix, an acoustic guitar plinks in the background (sounding like a guitar-practice progression), and the songs go on without a strong beginning or ending.  A string of songs like "Balboa Park", "Dry Lightning", and "The New  Timer" just waft over me, and it is difficult for me to find anything that stands out musically.

Ultimately, I don't find this album offering much new to me; the bleak, stark storytelling was explored much better on Nebraska, and Nebraska had a bit more diversity of sound on it, from the Suicide-esque yipping on "State Trooper" to the random rockabilly track "Drive All Night".  Even Devils & Dust, which owes some of it's sound to this album, has a few more memorable tracks than this one.  While there's no offensively bad song on the album (although "My Best Was Never Good Enough" is a bit cheesy), I'd rank it last among the Bruce acoustic trilogy.  

However, having not really discussed this album much, I contacted the other writers on Legends of Springsteen.  Both OB and Steve agreed - The Ghost of Tom Joad was their favorite of Springsteen's acoustic albums!  This came as a shock to me, so let's put it to you, the reader: how would you rank Springsteen's acoustic albums?

Great Moments In Springsteen Comic Book History - Men of Wrath #1

Tearing yet another page from the "We'll write about anything" folder, today's post spotlights Men of Wrath, a 2014 comic book written by Jason Aaron, with art by Ron Garney.  Picking up the series on a whim, I found myself very surprised to be greeted with the above quote, found on the inside cover for the first issue.  These brutal lyrics set the tone for the book, which covers the Rath family, and the inescapable violence that haunts their lives.  Interestingly enough, "The New Timer" is about a man working various jobs, including picking peaches, something Tom Joad did in The Grapes of Wrath (creating a connection back to the comic's title).

Admittedly, "The New Timer" is not in my general Springsteen rotation.  In fact, I rarely find myself listening to The Ghost of Tom Joad at all (and I doubt I'm alone in this).  With the 20th anniversary of the album coming up next month, perhaps it is worth going back to for another listen.

Great Moments in Springsteen Television History - The Good Wife

Any moment in television where a piece of Springsteen’s music is featured is automatically a great moment. But truth be told, the three songs featured in last Sunday’s The Good Wife were pretty disappointing moments.

Even with the understanding that the music integration was routed in a publicity stunt, you’d hope that there would at least be a semblance of artistry in the way the tunes were incorporated. But alas, there was no thematic connection or emotional resonance in this episode. Each instance was blatantly a post-production insertion with no pre-meditated thought during the writing – or even the filming – process.

For the sake of fanaticism, here’s a description of the appearances:

- Three different uses of “High Hopes” as a musical cue, the first of which was just a tease with the opening instrumentals at the beginning of the episode, the other two were just to bridge between scenes.
- Around half way through the episode, “The Ghost of Tom Joad” plays as background music in a bar. I don’t know what kind of bars will play “The Ghost of Tom Joad”, but I want to hang out at them. The music was used to underscore one character spying on another character’s text messages. Just the way Bruce envisioned it when he wrote it!
- Finally, the instrumental opening of “Hunter of Invisible Game” is used to conclude the episode as a melancholic flourish to the case’s resolution.

As for the show itself? Well, I’d never seen an episode of The Good Wife before, so I was pretty confused as to what was going on – both in terms of the court case proceedings and how the characters related to one another. At one point, one character called another character a “douche” which was pretty funny, but other than that I didn’t find much of interest in the show.

Ultimately, this was nothing more than a marketing push. Not a bad one, and I definitely appreciated the opportunity to stream the album a week early, but I wish the integration had been handled more artistically.

If, for some reason, you are still curious to see the episode, you can stream it through CBS.com: http://www.cbs.com/shows/the_good_wife/episodes/212778

Rumors: The Track List for the New Album?

Yesterday, Stan Goldstein culled information from a Springsteen fan forum to put together a possible listing of songs for the new Springsteen album.  I encourage you to click the link for more information; it is very informative with some great Springsteen live clips.  If this listing is true, it makes the album an amalgamation of covers (including a "cover" of "The Ghost of Tom Joad"), songs Springsteen had previously only performed live, and songs cut from other studio albums.  

Now, granted, this is just a rumor, but I've come to believe everything on the Internet is true, even if it contradicts itself.  So, assuming this is true, I'm excited, with a couple reservations, such as creating a studio version of "American Skin" (making it an "only live" song gives it a novel status, and, by setting it apart from the rest of Springsteen's catalog, helps underline the strong message of the song) and the lack of some of my personal favorite Springsteen covers from the past few years (such as "Coma Girl").  However, we are getting about a half dozen new Springsteen songs, so that's nothing to complain about.  In the end, I can't think of a way to end the article without making a terrible "I have....high hopes for this album" joke, so here we go: I have....high hopes for this album.

Movie Review - The Grapes of Wrath

One of my favorite Springsteen legends revolves around John Ford's film adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath.  The story goes that Bruce was flipping around the television dial one night, and stumbled across The Grapes of Wrath, and was immediately drawn in by the tale of the Joad family.  He had never read the original novel by John Steinbeck, but used the film as the basis for his future songwriting (most notably in the album not surprisingly titled The Ghost of Tom Joad).  Before sitting down to write this post, I scoured the internet to try to find confirmation of this tale, but failed.  Maybe I had heard it at a concert, or read it in one of the many Springsteen books I've reviewed throughout the years, or perhaps it was just another one of my beautiful and disturbing Springsteen dreams.  Regardless, having never read the book either, I decided to plop on my couch, flip on Netflix, and emulate my hero.

Before going into my thoughts and feelings, let me just give a quick summary of the movie for those unfamiliar with the story.  If you are worried about spoilers for a movie that came out in 1940, I'd suggest you skip over the rest of the review.  The movie opens with Tom Joad, played by Henry Fonda, returning to his Oklahoma home after a four year stint in prison for killing a man in a bar fight.  Upon returning home, however, he finds that the Dust Bowl has wrecked the economy of his home town, and the banks are forclosing on his home.  There is no use battling back, as there is no specific man to blame, and the construction equipment coming to tear down his home cannot be haulted - you stop one, and they'll send more.  So the Joad family packs up and heads to California, hoping to find more work.  Unfortunately, when they arrive, they see that there are too many people looking for work, and the employers have slashed their wages due to the overabundance of labor.  They working picking peaches, and are forced to live in destitute bungalows where they are heavily monitored, as attempts to organize a resistance are immediately squashed by hired goons.  The family finds some peace in a government-run camp where the community is run by the workers.  In the end, Tom Joad moves away from his family, inspired to take up the fight for the working man across the nation.  His final words are stirring and memorable: "I'll be all around in the dark. I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look, wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build, I'll be there, too."

Reading that description alone sounds like you've just listened to about fifty different Springsteen songs.  As a Springsteen fan for years, it was eye-opening to see how heavily this influenced him.  I'd compare it to the first time I saw Citizen Kane after growing up on The Simpsons: it's amazing how many references you can pick up on now.  I'm not exaggerating: take a look at the very first shot of the movie, does it remind you of anything?

John Ford, with famed cinematographer Gregg Toland, fills the movie with beautiful, stark imagery like that above.  In traveling from Oklahoma to California, we see gorgeous scenic shots that remind me of a film noir version of Breaking Bad (there are a lot more parallels you can draw between Breaking Bad and The Grapes of Wrath, but that's a subject for a completely different blog).  Springsteen's music reflects the barren, depressing mood in the film most notably in Nebraska and the obvious The Ghost of Tom Joad.  As Steve wrote about this summer, The Ghost of Tom Joad could be considered the most cinematic Springsteen album, but I see a lot of influence from this film in his most recent work, Wrecking Ball.  Two songs particularly stand out: "Death To My Hometown", as the men who kick the Joads off their farm are exactly what you'd imagine the "greedy thieves that came around and ate the flesh of everything they’ve found" would look like; and "We Are Alive", which draws from Tom's aforementioned "I'll be there" speech.

I would highly recommend this movie to all Springsteen fans.  While it may be a bit liberal for some of the more conservative Springsteen fans, it tries its best to stay apolitical, with Tom not even knowing what a "red" is.  The main message, as Springsteen echoes (on Wrecking Ball again), is that we take care of our own.  It is a tribute to the working class and a plea for compassion for your fellow man.

Song Spotlight: Across the Border & The Line

By pure coincidence, I watched the Jack Nicholson movie The Border and then listened to the entire The Ghost of Tom Joad album from start to finish for the first time in the span of a few days.

When I heard the song “Across the Border,” I thought for sure it was a cover of the song “Across the Borderline” by Freddy Fender that plays at the end of The Border. It isn’t quite but it sure bares striking similarities in both lyric and melody.

I took to the Internet to find out more and according to IMDB, “The Line” (also from The Ghost of Tom Joad) is inspired by The Border. A quick Google search didn't result in anything more concrete aside from another reference on a blog post, but even without evidence, it's not hard to believe that “The Line” is heavily influenced by The Border – although the story the song tells sure is a lot more coherent than the one the movie tells.

Between “The Line” and “Across the Border” it makes me ask the question is The Ghost of Tom Joad the Springsteen album most heavily influenced by cinema? He's made it clear in interviews that it’s The Grapes of Wrath the movie, not the book, that created its indelible influence on him. Also, check out “My Best Was Never Good Enough” which quotes lines from Forrest Gump.

Video Spotlight: "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (Tom Morello, Anne Preven, Boston Pops)

Tom Morello is no stranger to E Street fans.  He even filled in for Stevie Van Zandt during Bruce’s most recent Australian tour.  Anne Preven on the other hand is not terribly well known.  I only know one song by her, “Torn”, and I only came to know that song because it was covered and became a massive hit for Natalie Imbruliga in the late 90’s.  However, while I was never a fan of Imbruliga’s cover, the first time I heard Anne Preven doing the original song,  acoustically on The Howard Stern Show, I became a HUGE fan of the song.  Seriously give it a listen and you will thank me.

It was actually while looking for that performance of “Torn” that I stumbled across this video on YouTube.  While not professionally filmed, the quality is still good and it’s just such an interesting combination.  A rock guitar icon, an angry feminist songwriter, and the Boston Pops covering a Springsteen song.  And it works!  Notice that they stayed close to the original Springsteen arrangement of the song and did not go with Morello’s cover version that he did with Rage Against The Machine.  Smart call there, as I hate the Rage version of this song.

They all sound great here.  Preven's voice is great, Morello's guitar playing is amazing as always, and the Boston Pops adds a certain haunting element to the song that really fits in and seems natural.  It's one of the best performances of this song that I've heard.

None But the Brave: Bruce Springsteen on Courage (Guest Post)

We are pleased to present another guest post from frequent contributor and friend of the blog, James Layman.

There are no words to tack a silver lining on the tragedy in Boston earlier this week. There is nothing that can be written to put the pieces back together, or to make sense of the senseless. Still, it has never ceased to amaze me how the darkness in others brings out the light in ourselves. Whatever trials come to pass, we are never left with a shortage of Americans willing to answer the call. Here are some of Bruce’s thoughts on courage.

“…faith and duty called you someplace higher. Somewhere up the stairs, into the fire”

“Into the Fire”, The Rising, 2002






“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.”

“The Promised Land”, Darkness on the Edge of Town, 1978






“Wherever there’s a fight against the blood and hatred in the air.

Look for me, Ma, I’ll be there.”

“The Ghost of Tom Joad”, The Ghost of Tom Joad, 1995







“None baby, but the brave.

No one baby, but the brave

Those strong enough to save

Something from what they gave.”

“None but the Brave”, The Essential Bruce Springsteen, 2003

Bruce Goes Electric!

Last week I counted down my favorite songs that Bruce re-did acoustically.  This week I will be doing the exact opposite and counting down my favorite songs that Bruce did originally did acoustically but now plays a full electic version with the E Street Band.



5.  State Trooper-
This particular version is recorded with the Arcade Fire, for all you hipsters out there.  Originally on the Nebraska album, I first noticed this song on the season finale of the first season, of the HBO hit show "The Sopranos".  I like this song, don’t love it, but it’s definitely worth a listen The song doesn’t change much too much with the E Street Band, just adds a drum beat and an electric guitar with a pretty cool slide effect.  That isn’t the case with the other songs on the list.  I definitely prefer the original version, the single voice and acoustic guitar definitely give the song a more frantic feeling when it gets to the chorus of “Mr. State Trooper, please don’t stop me.”  That is definitely lost with the E Street version, and is probably why Bruce doesn’t play it all that often.



4.  Reason to Believe-
Oh hell yeah!  This blues-rock version rocks just kicks all kind of ass!  Seriously this song was the highlight of the night when I saw Bruce on March 7th, 2008  at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY.  From the awesome harmonica intro, the pounding drums, to the Doors-esque guitar work this song.  Another Nebraska song, Bruce played this pretty regularly in the 80’s(albeit in a much tamer version, see the Live 1975-1985 box set for an example) and on his solo tours.  This version of the song was played pretty regularly on the first leg of the Magic Tour, and then got inexplicably cut, and rarely played since.  That’s a shame, and something I would love to see changed on this tour.



3.  The Ghost of Tom Joad-
This song, minus Tom Morello’s incredibly masterful solo, is very similar to the original acoustic version heard on the album of the same name.  It’s almost as if Bruce took the song, turned it up to 11, and it has definitely works as Bruce has played this song with a decent amount of regularity on every tour since it’s release.  Named after the main character from John Steinbeck’s novel “The Grapes Of Wrath”,  the song’s lyrics tackle injustice in society.  The song was made popular when it was covered by the band Rage Against the Machine (Hence Morello appearing with band on that night, and on multiple other occasions).  I personally can’t stand the Rage version, but if it made more people seek out the original then I’m all for it.  As excellent as the original version is, I think I prefer the live version as Bruce sounds downright pissed off in it.  And the video I included, taken from the 25th anniversary of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame concert at Madison Square Garden, just might be Bruce’s best performance of the song.



2.  Youngstown-
Now this is a song where I prefer the changed version as opposed to the original.  Bruce’s 3 folk albums (Nebraska, Ghost of Tom Joad, and Devils & Dust) all have a common theme of struggling working class, even more so than the other albums.  “Youngstown” is a song that fits in perfect of on Tom Joad, and does an excellent job of showing the struggles of what happens to factory towns when the factory goes under.  But instead of being a song of loss and lament, like on the album, the song turns into a song of bitterness and anger, when performed live with The E Street Band.  I love that Bruce still performs the song in this manner to this day.  And check out Nils Lofgren’s CRAZY solo at the end.  If that doesn’t get you fired up, something’s wrong



1.  Atlantic City-
As with most of the lists I do, #1 shouldn’t come as a shock.  There’s not much to say about it, just listen for yourself.  It’s one of Bruce’s best songs, no matter which version you listen to.  Even the completely different version he did with Seeger Sessions Band, is pretty great too.   The fact that Bruce plays this song so regularly to this day, in any version, is a testament to what a great song it is.  There‘s one story that exemplifies what an incredible song “Atlantic City” is and what emotions it can bring out in you.  One time when fellow-blogger Rory and were driving down to Atlantic City, NJ we were listening to Bruce the whole way down.  When we hit that last mile of the Atlantic City Expressway, we played the E Street version of  “Atlantic City“.  We couldn’t help but get excited especially when we heard the song kick in with the full band, with the smell of the ocean air, and the bright lights of the casinos.  We were high-fiving each other and singing along in anticipation of a great night in AC.  The next day, on the drive home, we played the depressing original acoustic version to commiserate with our hungover, poorer selves as opposed to the night before.  Now that’s a powerful song.

Bruce Going Acoustic!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love E Street Radio on SiriusXM?  One of the infinite reasons I do is because of their daily Bruce concerts.  One way Bruce has always been able to stay fresh is by constantly staying fresh and reinventing himself.  You can really see the evolution of Bruce as a performer when you listen to him.  And I really love when E Street Radio play shows from the Devils & Dust tour, as well as The Ghost Of Tom Joad tour, which opened my ears to so many acoustic versions of Springsteen songs that I’ve come to know and love.  This week I will be taking a look at my favorite songs that Bruce has redone acoustically. either by guitar or piano.  My only rule to make this list is that the songs must be Springsteen originals, no covers.  So without any further delay, my top 5:

Honorable mention goes to: Promised Land and Spirit In The Night .  They’re good but just missed the cut.  Definitely give them a chance though when you get a chance!



5.  Adam Raised A Cain-
I’m not really a fan of the original version.  I don’t hate it, but I usually skip it when it comes on my iPod.  But this version though is a lot more gritty, down and dirty.  I can totally get into it.  Bruce performed this on both The Ghost of Tom Joad and Devils & Dust tours.  Unfortunately that’s been the limit, and Bruce performs the regular electric version with The E Street Band today.  I wish he would switch it up and play this version instead.



4.  Born to Run -
Bruce performed this version pretty regularly on the Tunnel of Love tour, but I don‘t believe on either of the acoustic tours.  I absolutely prefer the full electric version, but there’s something special about this version.  Instead of being the loud anthem of escape and rebellion that we have all known it to be, this slower version makes the character in the song sound much less optimistic about the opportunities.  He still wants to get out and be on his own, but he’s not so sure it will be all that much better then his current situation.



3.  Darkness on the Edge of Town-
How do you take one of Bruce’s most powerful and passionate songs and make it even more so?   Strip away everything else, and leave Bruce alone with just a guitar.  Again, it’s not as good as the original but it’s just something different and  takes the song to a different place.  The climax of this song (“Cause tonight, I’ll be on that hill…”) just comes of so full of energy that I absolutely love.  Bruce played it regularly on both acoustic tours, and has occasionally busted it out at other performances.  “Darkness” is one of my favorite Bruce songs and I would love to hear any version of it when I see Bruce in concert.



2.  Be True-
I heard this song while listening to this concert was on E Street Radio and was floored.  I always thought “Be True” was a good song, but nothing great.  But this version was just beautiful.  I was so happy to see that YouTube had this as well.  To my knowledge, this is the only time Bruce performed “Be True” on a piano.  A few years ago, this song would have been heard only by those lucky enough to be at this concert and maybe a few others who were able to make copies of this recording.  Then it would have been lost forever.  Now through the magic of the internet anyone can listen to it anytime they want.  Thanks YouTube.



1.  Incident on 57th Street-
Are you surprised?  Well you shouldn’t be.  I’ve stated in previous posts that this is my favorite Springsteen song and this stripped down piano version was played a few times on The Rising tour, and only then, as far as I know.  The song seems so much more romantic and passionate played on the piano that I think I might prefer it to the original version.  But that can change at the drop of a hat.  You can’t go wrong with either one.

Well that’s it for this week  Join me next week when I will be counting down my favorite acoustic songs that Bruce has performed with the E Street Band!  Also, if you know of any great acoustic versions of Bruce songs please let us know!

Quick Take - Jack of all Trades

Bruce’s latest track, “Jack of All Trades,” has a very romantic sound and a reassuring chorus that becomes considerably less comforting by the time we get to the dark, sinister ending.

The song reminds me somewhat of “Livin’ in the Future” – a song whose weight I didn’t fully appreciate until I heard it played live and slowed down.

It should be noted that Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine guests on this track playing electric guitar. After hearing his accompaniment on the live version of “Ghost of Tom Joad,” I was really excited that the two were pairing again. However, while Morello’s solo at the 5:00 minute mark is strong and nicely integrated, what really strikes me in this song is the horn section. I have a feeling this is a song Bruce is going to play frequently and with heartfelt solemnity.

Cover Me, Part 1 - Artists Covering Bruce

I am a huge fan of Sirius XM Satellite Radio. Maybe it’s the fact that I can listen to any sports game I want, or because I’m a big fan of The Opie and Anthony Show, but most likely it’s that the geniuses at the network decided to create a 24/7 Bruce Springsteen channel that has made me not want to ever go back to terrestrial radio. In addition to playing Springsteen‘s songs from his albums, “E Street Radio” plays full concerts, interviews, outtakes and B-Sides, and just recently they started a show called Cover Me.

Cover Me, cleverly named after the track from Born In The USA, plays bands that cover Bruce in addition to playing covers of other artists performed by Bruce. I love this show to see just how far Bruce’s influence goes as well as seeing who Bruce was influenced by. The last show of 2011 had them counting down their favorite covers of Bruce and their favorite covers by Bruce. This week I’ll be discussing other artists covering Bruce.

According to Cover Me, the top five covers are:

5. “Ghost of Tom Joad”- Rage Against The Machine



Rage is one of those bands that as I grow older I fail to see what I ever found so great about them. Zach De La Rocha’s voice is terrible, he doesn’t even sing. And while Tom Morello is an absolutely brilliant guitar player, he seems to be “too good” on the guitar. Seriously, can’t he just do a normal solo or riff? Does everything has to be some manipulation of the guitar strings? Rage will always be remembered for their political stances, and certainly that’s why they would be drawn to cover to this song but I can’t stand their version. It’s everything I can’t stand about the band, but Bruce seems to be a big fan of it as evidenced by the number of times Tom Morello has joined him on stage to play this song, so I guess I’m in the minority here but no way would this be one of my picks.

4. “Atlantic City” - The Hold Steady





I had never heard this cover before, but wow, I was impressed. This piano and brass instrument driven version of song really pays tribute to this Springsteen classic, while making it their own, at the same time. When Springsteen plays “Atlantic City” live now it is a full electric song with the E Street Band, that while certainly a great song, it takes away from some of the somberness from the original acoustic studio version found on Nebraska. This cover I think really combines the Springsteen’s studio and live version quite well. It illustrates the dire situation the protagonist finds himself in, as well as being a fun upbeat song that you’ll find yourself tapping your toes along with. Big thumbs up for this pick.

3. “Thunder Road” - Tortoise with Bonnie "Prince" Billy



Another cover I was not familiar with. This is definitely an interesting version. At first I didn’t care for it, but the more I listened to it the more I could at least respect it, if not be a small fan of it. It’s nowhere near as good as the Springsteen version, but I don’t think it was trying to be. It’s simply a different interpretation, and while it’s not exactly my cup of tea, I absolutely will give Tortoise credit for being unique. Not one of my picks but, kudos anyway.


2. “Growing Up”- Eddie Veder



Eddie Veder and Pearl Jam have covered Bruce countless times. Some of them I like, others I’m not too crazy about. This is one I’m not too crazy about. There’s nothing unique about it. It’s just Eddie Veder singing “Growing Up”. It’s not bad at all, but I just don’t find anything too special about it. Now, when Veder covered “My City of Ruins” at Springsteen’s induction into the Kennedy Center, that was impressive. I would have definitely picked that. But, to each their own.


1. “Because the Night” - Patti Smith



This isn’t really fair to put this on the list. Yes, Bruce did write this song, but he didn’t release it till 2010 on The Promise. Patti Smith made this song a hit, and certainly deserves the credit for it. I wouldn’t put this song on the list because of that technicality, but if you can get past that, then I have no argument with this being #1. My particular favorite version is Bruce and Patti singing this with U2 at 25th anniversary concert for the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame.


My picks:
5. “Atlantic City” - The Hold Steady
4. “My City of Ruins”- Eddie Veder


3. “I’m Going Down” - Vampire Weekend


2. “Badlands” - Dropkick Murphy’s


1. “Atlantic City” - The Band



Let me know your choices for the best covers in the comments. Next week: the top five songs covered by Bruce.