“Look Towards the Land” is a gorgeous early Springsteen ballad, easy to listen to but tough to pin down.
That’s because we don’t have a definitive studio recording or published lyrics to work from, and while we’re fortunate enough to have three different live performances (two of which are absolutely stunning in their recording quality) over the course of a year to compare, it’s clear that “Look Towards the Land” was a work in progress during that time. Even though the lyrical changes were small, they were significant, possibly shifting the meaning of the song in subtle ways each time.
The song has at least two and possibly three layers to it: one universal, one personal, and perhaps one political.
Let’s take a listen to the last recording first. Captured by Tinker West at a Bruce Springsteen Band rehearsal at the Challenger Easter Surfboard factory on March 14, 1972, this is a gorgeous soundboard recording. While the band is still officially known as The Bruce Springsteen Band, the musicians you hear playing (Bruce, Steve, Garry, David, and Vini) are very much the E Street Band–only Danny is missing from the group that only months later would adopt their new name.
“Look Towards the Land” is an exercise in restraint for the band. Bruce holds tight rein in order to make sure that the introspective, romantic lyrics don’t get lost. The melody is piano-driven, and is very similar to “Mary, Queen of Arkansas,” which Bruce would record for his first album later that year.
Although the song runs a full ten minutes, there’s not a change-up to be found. Bruce isn’t showing off here; instead, he’s expressing the dream of a protagonist who fancies himself an explorer, and adventurer, a gypsy (in other words, a musician)–but one who’s torn between his compass and his anchor. The anchor, of course, is a woman–one he yearns for as a travel companion, although the lack of detail about her implies that he misses the concept of her more than the fact of her.
Well I dreamed I was a gypsy riding the land
With a tambourine and a gypsy queen and a rainbow caravan
Happy old land sailor, that’s what I wanna be
Stealing diamonds from the rich men to throw in the sea
Singing look toward the land
‘Cause the land holds the key
Keep an eye on the land
And an eye on the sea
Those last two lines establish the conceit of the song–the lure of the open road, the pull of home and loved ones.
But in the two other recorded performances of this song (from the previous year), Bruce exhorts us in the final line of the chorus to keep an eye on “man” (which, paired with the concluding chorus, implies that there is a protest song lurking within), or “me” (which implies that his mantra is directed at his girl rather than himself). Given that this is the most recent recording we have available, we’ll assume that this is where Bruce finally landed.
Yes I dreamed I was the cabin boy on an American clipper line
Stealing cargo to colonies of South Caroline
Watering flowers for the captain that they may not wilt
On the best ol’ clipper Donald McKay ever built
Singing look towards the land
‘Cause the land is the key
Keep an eye on the land
And an eye on the sea
I have to admit: I had to look up Donald McKay to verify if he was a real person, and indeed he was. McKay was a famous clipper shipbuilder, and the fact that Bruce knew this and namechecked him–combined with the fact that Bruce has made references to dreams of clipper ships in other songs–implies that Bruce had a genuine fascination with clippers, and that this isn’t just a piece of colorful detail for a song.
A lovely Clapton-esque guitar solo follows, and then we continue:
Yes I dreamed I was the captain of the river queen
Caressing Mississippi waters down to New Orleans
Just a riverboat captain, that’s what I wanna be
Won’t you come on now, I’d let you ride, my mama, for free
Singing look towards the river
‘Cause the river’s the key
Keep an eye on the river
And an eye on the sea
This is where we get our first inkling that our narrator has an actual dilemma on his hands: he’s drawn to keep moving, but he wants company and implores his love to understand him: he’s like the river, he needs to flow. To make sure we don’t miss this as the crux of the song, he sings it twice:
Where the river flows, I’ll follow
Where the sun shines, I will go
Mama take my hand, I want to bring you to the land
Where the wild wind blows
And the mountains grow
And the people know
Yes they know
You must let the river flow
Let the river go
Bruce now explicitly imagines himself as the river, flowing on:
Yes I dreamed I was a river flowing free
And I dreamed that everybody just flowed naturally
Yes I dreamed I was a crystal mountain stream
Running down the biggest mountain you ever seen
Singing look towards the river
For they are the key
Keep an eye on the river
And an eye on the sea
Finally, Bruce let’s go of the metaphor that’s carried us the entire length of the song, laying it out for his love:
I dreamed I was your lover ’cause that’s what I wanna be
I dreamed that every night you dreamed only of me
We walked together by the sea, a hand in hand
I’m telling you were my only woman and I’d be your only man
Singing look toward the lovers
For they are the key
Keep an eye on the lovers
And an eye on the war machine
Let’s talk about that last line for a minute. I’m not sure what to make of it. The “war machine” line comes out of nowhere, and it casts a different light on the song–as if the force that keeps the singer moving is less wanderlust and more a fear of conscription.
It’s possible that this was still a holdover from earlier versions of the song, where there were other clues to a more political subtext. In the first recorded performance, a shorter acoustic version from May 1971, Bruce encourages the listener to “keep an eye on man,” and he concludes the song with a final couplet:
And that’s why at night I’m afraid to sleep
‘Cause some of my dreams frighten me
Five months later, in October 1971, the song sounds very close to the Challenger version at the top of this article. The “man” reference has been dropped, but the “war machine” is there. Take a listen–it’s uploaded here to youtube for the first time:
The fact that the song ends virtually the same way throughout its evolution suggests that Bruce at least had a political context in mind, if not subtext.
Unfortunately, we’re not likely to ever find out exactly what he had in mind. It’s closing in on five decades since Bruce last performed it; if Bruce even remembers he ever wrote it, I doubt he’d remember what he had in mind.
So like much of his early pre-Street work, we’ll have to content ourselves with simply listening and taking away from it that which speaks to us.
Look Towards the Land
Recorded: March 14, 1972 (rehearsal)
Never released
First performed: May 15, 1971 (Union, NJ)
Last performed: October 23, 1971 (Richmond, VA)
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