“What through the tempest loudly roars / I hear the truth, it liveth / What through the darkness round me close / Songs in the night it giveth / No storm can shake my inmost calm / While to that rock I’m clinging / Since love is lord of heaven and earth / How can I keep from singing?”—from “How Can I Keep from Singing?”
A year ago, Bruce Springsteen released what I called his most spiritual album ever—the widely acclaimed Devils & Dust, with eight of its 12 tracks including religious references. I still think it’s Springsteen’s most sacred work yet, but his latest effort, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions, gives D&D a spiritual run for its money.
What distinguishes The Seeger Sessions from D&D—indeed, from all of his 20 previous albums—is that the lyrics are not Springsteen’s. This is a joyful hayride through 15 folk songs representing the best of Americana, all of them recorded by the legendary Pete Seeger at one time or another.
Springsteen fell in love with Seeger’s music when he recorded “We Shall Overcome” for 1997’s Where Have All the Flowers Gone: The Songs of Pete Seeger. At the time, Springsteen noticed what he now calls “the wealth” of Seeger songs, saying “their richness and power changed what I thought I knew about ‘folk music.'”
And to the delight of many—and not just Springsteen fans, because this album is appealing to scores who aren’t into his music—that newfound “wealth” now manifests itself in The Seeger Sessions, recorded in the living room of Springsteen’s farmhouse. The sessions were a giddy romp for Bruce and a band of musicians he’d never met—they were recommended by E Street Band violinist Soozie Tyrell—before their first day in the “studio.”
“Accordion, fiddle, banjo, upright bass, washboard—this was the sound I was looking for,” says Springsteen. “I wanted the sound of a bunch of people just sitting around playing. We set up next to one another in our living room, and till that moment, we’d never played a note together. I counted off the opening chords to ‘Jesse James,’ and away we went. It was a carnival ride, the sound of surprise and the pure joy of playing. Street corner music, parlor music, tavern music, wilderness music, circus music, church music, gutter music, it was all there waiting in those songs.”
Springsteen’s own spiritual roots may have also been waiting. Raised in a Catholic home, his records have always included religious imagery, especially in recent years, starting with 2002’s The Rising, through Devils & Dust, and now this. Perhaps his rediscovered spirituality is merely a product of contemplating his own mortality (he’ll be 60 in three years)—or the fact that he’s now father to two teenagers (with a 12-year-old not far behind). Whatever the reason, it’s good to see this outlook showing up on his albums.
Springsteen may not have written these songs, but he certainly chose them (or did they choose him?) out of hundreds of possibilities. It’s clear the Boss wanted some sacred stuff on this project.
The most spiritually overt is “How Can I Keep from Singing?” (cited at the top of this article), included as a bonus track. The hymn is attributed to Robert Lowry in 1869, but variations may have been sung in the days of slavery by abolitionist Quakers. A century later, it became one of Seeger’s favorites.
The album’s other clearly spiritual tunes include:
- “Oh Mary Don’t You Weep,” a rousing Negro spiritual predating the Civil War. Its chorus (“O Mary don’t you weep, don’t you mourn, Pharaoh’s army got drownded, O Mary don’t you weep”) refers to Mary of Bethany who, with her sister Martha, begged Jesus to raise their brother Lazarus from the dead.
- “Jacob’s Ladder,” another Negro spiritual, this one based on Genesis 28:11-19, where Jacob dreams of a ladder to heaven. Slaves embraced the story because it ends with a promise of freedom.
- “Eyes on the Prize,” an old Holiness hymn whose lyrics are practically straight from Scripture: “I got my hand on the gospel plow / Won’t take nothing for my journey now / Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on” and “Ain’t been to heaven but I been told / Streets up there are paved with gold.”
And while the title track is known as a political protest song, it is also a variation on Charles Tindley’s hymn, “I’ll Overcome Someday” (based on Galatians 6:9). Springsteen, whose opposition to President Bush and the war in Iraq is well known, could have fully “politicized” this song—and indeed, the whole album. He could have chosen songs with more of a political bent. But to his credit, he opted for a more eclectic—and much happier—variety.
Did we mention that this album is brimming with joy?
Even the “non-religious” songs explore themes consistent with a biblical worldview, sometimes seeming to “set up” the more spiritually-inclined numbers. For example, “Jesse James,” a ballad about the famous outlaw, and “Mrs. McGrath,” an 1800s Irish ditty about a mother grieving her son’s war injuries. But as she begins to deal with her grief, the album segues into the boisterously uplifting “O Mary Don’t You Weep.”
The hardships of the American working man, covered back-to-back in “John Henry” and “Erie Canal,” are followed by the hope of “Jacob’s Ladder.” The sad story of “My Oklahoma Home,” about a man who lost everything in a twister, precedes the encouraging “Eyes on the Prize.” And so on.
Mixed amid the songs of joy, sorrow, and downright silliness (“Old Dan Tucker,” “Froggie Went a-Courtin'”) are just enough nods to the sacred to qualify this as Springsteen’s second most spiritual effort. Devils & Dust still tops that list, but this exuberant collection of folk favorites ain’t too far behind.
Unless specified clearly, we are not implying whether this artist is or is not a Christian. The views expressed are simply the author’s. For a more complete description of our Glimpses of God articles, click here
