Song #47: Bruce Springsteen - "The Ghost of Tom Joad"

 Australian people will know what I'm talking about - how awesome are 2X and 3X? You know, when you get the two or three CDs in a package for a really cheap price? This happened to me this very week - I picked up a 2X of The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen, and two of his albums in Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad for just thirteen dollars! Going alphabetically, I've thrown on Ghost first, to be greeted with its title track.

It's hard to say it's a generic Springsteen acoustic ballad, as I honestly believe that no two Springsteen songs sound the same.  It's definitely in familiar working-man territory, however - it's the story of a run-down town, hopless and mostly homeless. Definitely something we've all heard before in terms of the Boss' work, but that doesn't mean it's completely meritless. There's a lot of heart in this one, connecting as realistically as he possibly can with the underclass life. Cut away the cheese and you've actually got something passable here. Definitely no Devils and Dust, but still quite nice.

FINAL RATING: 6.5

The Boss is the man.

x
Davidsteen