The Ghost of Tom Joad
"The Ghost of Tom Joad" is a folk rock song written by Bruce Springsteen. It is the title track to his eleventh
studio album, released in 1995. The character Tom Joad, from John Steinbeck's classic 1939 novel The
Grapes of Wrath, is mentioned in the title and narrative. Originally a quiet folk song, "The Ghost of Tom
Joad" has also been recorded by Rage Against the Machine. Springsteen himself has performed the song in
a variety of arrangements, including with the E Street Band, and a live recording featuring Rage Against the
Machine's Tom Morello as guest. In 2013, Springsteen subsequently re-recorded the track with Morello for
his eighteenth studio album, High Hopes (2014).
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 John Ford's film adaptation of Steinbeck's novel. Springsteen had in
fact read the book, watched the film, and listened to the song, before writing "The Ghost of Tom Joad",[2]
and the result was viewed as being true to Guthrie's tradition.[2] Springsteen identified with 1930s-style
social activism, and sought to give voice to the invisible and unheard, the destitute and the disenfranchised.
[3] His use of characterization was similarly influenced by Steinbeck and Ford.[3]
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 images:[4]
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 gains ironic mention,[4] 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 originally recorded as an E Street Band number, intended for inclusion as one
of the new tracks on his February 1995 Greatest Hits album.[5] However, Springsteen did not like the
arrangement, and he put the song aside for his next project.[5]
The released "The Ghost of Tom Joad" was recorded between April and June 1995, at Springsteen's Los
Angeles home studio.[1] It was recorded with a light and muted accompaniment, featuring Springsteen on
guitar and harmonica, 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.[1]
Springsteen's vocal phrasing tends to fade off at the end of each line of the song.
Springsteen's recording was released with the album on November 21, 1995. It was given limited release as
a single in The Netherlands and the UK, wherein the latter 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.
Men walkin' 'long the railroad tracks
Goin' some place, there's no goin' back
The Highway Patrol chopper's comin' up over the ridge
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretchin' 'round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleepin' in their cars out in the Southwest
No home no job no peace no rest
The highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Searchin' for the Ghost of Tom Joad
He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag
Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
Waitin' for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass
Got a one-way ticket to the promised land
You got a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand
Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock
Bathin' in the city aqueduct
The highway is alive tonight
Where it's headed everybody knows
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad
Now Tom said "Mom, whenever 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 a decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me."
Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad
