On March 10, 1983, Bruce sat down in his new home studio in his Los Angeles home, switched on a drum machine, and recorded “The Klansman,” a dark reminiscence of a home visit by a KKK recruiter through the eyes of a child.
Unlike many of other acoustic outtakes from this period, “The Klansman” is virtually fully formed. There are a few lyrical rough edges that suggest that Bruce wasn’t quite done polishing it, but it’s clearly “content complete.” It features Bruce in the taut storytelling mode of his recent Nebraska album, but it isn’t hard to imagine “The Klansman” in an electric arrangement on Born in the U.S.A.
The melody is sinister and foreboding (Bruce plays every instrument); we know that something bad is afoot almost before Bruce lays it out in the opening verse:
Word of the trouble spread around
One day a man came to my town
In the kitchen when my Pa let him in
He shook my hand, said, “Son, the Klan’s your friend”
We never learn what the “trouble” is, but given the greeting of the mysterious visitor, it isn’t hard to imagine. The recruiter continues–presumably addressing the father now:
“Was a meeting at Lyle Stanton’s house on the Jefferson Highway
Some they did not listen, some did not turn away”
Said, “When the holy rain of fire comes tumbling from above
It’ll be a Klansman who stands for the land he loves”
Look away, look away now
That’s a pretty strong pitch. We’re left to wonder how the father will react during a short instrumental interlude, and then the story continues, some time later:
I was ten years old when my Pa said, “Son, some day you will see
When you grow to wear the robes like your brother and me”
“When the war between the races leaves us in a fiery dream
It’ll be a Klansman who will wipe this country clean
This, son, is my dream”
Bruce’s vocals give nothing away–his delivery is unflinching. We can discern neither a young boy’s pride in his father nor a grown man’s shame.
We’re left to wonder which path the boy chose for himself, which is undoubtedly the exact effect Bruce was aiming for.
Rumors still fly about a someday-soon box set treatment for Born in the U.S.A. and its contemporary outtakes. Odds are good–or at least they should be–that “The Klansman” will finally see a release if and when.
The Klansman
Recorded: March 10, 1983
Never released
Never performed
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I’d be amazed if he included this on a BITUSA box. Whilst it’s a really good track, we live in an world where so many people have no grasp of context and the song would be clickbait fodder for idiots.