The Ghost Of Tom Joad

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Track 1 of The Ghost Of Tom Joad, 1995. Full-band version with Tom Morello released as track 10 of High Hopes, 2014.

Official 1996 video unavailable online.

The Ghost Of Tom Joad (Bruce Springsteen, 1995)
- Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitar, harmonica
- Danny Federici: keyboard
- Gary Mallaber: drums
- Marty Rifkin: pedal steel guitar
- Garry Tallent: bass

High Hopes (Bruce Springsteen, 2014)
- Bruce Springsteen: lead vocals, guitar
- Ron Aniello: bass, synthesizer
- Roy Bittan: piano
- Charles Giordano: accordion
- Nils Lofgren: pedal steel guitar, mandolin
- Tom Morello: lead vocals, guitar
- Soozie Tyrell: violin
- Max Weinberg: drums

Sowing The Seeds: The 10th Anniversary (Compilation, 2007)
- Pete Seeger: vocals
- Tim Carbone: fiddle
- Mark Dann: acoustic guitar
- David Hamburger: dobro
- Ken Lovelett: percussion
- Bruce Springsteen: vocals, harmonica
- Mike Visceglia: bass

The People Speak (Soundtrack, 2009)
- Bruce Springsteen: vocals, guitar, harmonica

The Ghost Of Tom Joad

Men walking 'long the railroad tracks
Going someplace and there's no going back
Highway patrol choppers coming up over the ridge
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretching 'round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleeping in their cars in the southwest
No home, no job, no peace, no rest

Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Searching for the ghost of Tom Joad

He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag
Preacher lights up a butt and he takes a drag
Waiting for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass
You 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
Bathing in the city aqueduct

And the highway is alive tonight
Where it's headed everybody knows
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Waiting on the ghost of Tom Joad

Tom said, "Mom, wherever there's a cop beating a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me, Mom, I'll be there
Where there's somebody fighting for a place to stand
Or a decent job or a helping hand
Wherever somebody's struggling to be free
Look in their eyes, Mom, you'll see me"

The highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad

^{Visit SpringsteenLyrics.com for other versions of this song.}

The Ghost Of Tom Joad ^{(The People Speak - Documentary)}

^{Spoken intro only - Lyrics continue same as the Soundtrack lyrics below.}

I wrote the song the mid-nineties. It was uh… some conversation I was having with myself. As you're all alone here your better angels come in and out of sight. I was lucky to fill my music with purpose once again. Living in California, there were a lot of migrant worker issues and immigration issues constantly. It was really… you had a sense that where California was in the mid-nineties was where the rest of the country was going… to be going in the next decade, and it really has. A combination of sort of running around by myself and with the band and coming in contact with a lot of people that work at a variety of— for a different, different of grass roots social organizations who were saying that demand for their services for food banks and such had been going up and up and up even as we heard about the economic bubble on top, so… From this song I wrote an album of songs kinda set in the West. And uh… let me just sing it.

^{Visit SpringsteenLyrics.com for other versions of this song.}

The Ghost Of Tom Joad ^{(The People Speak - Soundtrack)}

Men walking 'long the railroad tracks
Going someplace, there's no going back
Highway patrol choppers coming up over the ridge
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretching 'round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleeping in their cars in the southwest
No home, no job, no peace, no rest

Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Searching 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
Waiting for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass
You 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
Bathing in the city aqueduct

Well the highway is alive tonight
Where it's headed everybody knows
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Waiting on the ghost of Tom Joad

Well now Tom said, "Ma, wherever there's a cop beating a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me, Mom, I'll be there
Wherever somebody's fighting for a place to stand
Or a decent job or a helping hand
Wherever somebody's struggling to be free
Look in their eyes, Mom, you'll see me

Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad

^{Visit SpringsteenLyrics.com for other versions of this song.}

The Ghost Of Tom Joad ^{(High Hopes)}

Men walking 'long the railroad tracks
Going someplace, there's no going back
Highway patrol choppers coming up over the ridge
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretching 'round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleeping in the cars in the southwest
No home, no job, no peace, no rest

Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Searching for the ghost of Tom Joad

Go!
Well the highway is alive tonight
Where it's headed everybody knows
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Waiting on the ghost of Tom Joad

Now Tom said, "Mom, wherever there's a cop beating a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me, Mom, I'll be there
Tom Morello: Wherever somebody's fighting for a place to stand
Or a decent job or a helping hand
Wherever somebody's struggling to be free
Look in their eyes, Ma, and you'll see me"
Yeah!

The highway is alive tonight
Where it's headed everybody knows
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad
Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad
With the ghost of old Tom Joad
With the ghost of old Tom Joad

^{Visit SpringsteenLyrics.com for other versions of this song.}

THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD - V1		uncirculating
THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD - V2	4:20	JOAD / ESSENTIAL / CHAPTER
THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD - V3	4:26	COMP: APPLESEED10
THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD - V4	4:44	OST: PEOPLESPEAK
THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD - V5	7:34	HOPES

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The Ghost Of Tom Joad

The Ghost Of Tom Joad ^{(The People Speak - Documentary)}

The Ghost Of Tom Joad ^{(The People Speak - Soundtrack)}

The Ghost Of Tom Joad ^{(High Hopes)}

Brucebase Wiki

Site Navigation

The Ghost Of Tom Joad

The Ghost Of Tom Joad (The People Speak - Documentary)

The Ghost Of Tom Joad (The People Speak - Soundtrack)

The Ghost Of Tom Joad (High Hopes)

The Ghost Of Tom Joad ^{(The People Speak - Documentary)}

The Ghost Of Tom Joad ^{(The People Speak - Soundtrack)}

The Ghost Of Tom Joad ^{(High Hopes)}