Let’s see: Bruce has written a song about Jesse James, recorded a second one handed down from the Old West era, and namechecked him in still another unreleased demo.
I think we can safely see that Bruce has a fascination with the man–so much so that he even wrote a song about the man who killed him.
In the early spring of 1981, during what would become known as the Nebraska sessions, Bruce sat down with his guitar and a tape recorder in his home studio in Colts Neck, and he recorded the opening lines of what promised to be a great Western ballad.
Although we only have the first two lines to consider, it’s not surprising that Bruce started from the notion of two brothers who we know will meet a tragic end.
Robert Ford and Jesse James were like brothers
Together they would loot the Danville train
Towards the end of the year (or possibly early 1982), Bruce returned to the song, and this time we have a mostly-fleshed out story that offers us fascinating insight into the themes that would continue to pervade Bruce’s music in the years ahead.
Take a listen, and then we’ll take it apart.
As he hinted at in the earlier demo above, “Robert Ford” is the tale of two brothers, in spirit if not in blood.
Robert Ford was a member of Jesse James’ gang. That is, until he shot and killed James in order to claim the reward that had been placed on James’ head. Although ostensibly on the side of justice, Ford became painted as the villain as James became a Robin Hood-style martyr. Ford wandered the West ever after until he was himself shot dead at the age of 30.
Bruce found biblical parallels in the story of Robert and Jesse, as we’ll shortly see. But in the first verse, the parallels we see are to another Springsteen original, one that very much would see the light of day shortly:
It was a sunny afternoon down at the ??? shack
And Robert ran for amnesty, shot Jesse in the back
Bobby, he ran to Maria, but the freedom he gained from his sins
She said Bobby, oh Bobby what have you done
And she would not let him in
It’s not much of a stretch to connect the dots between “Robert Ford” and “Highway Patrolman.” Both songs chronicle a strained brotherhood, both include a love interest named Maria (who as far as I know is Bruce’s invention, not an actual historical figure). I’ve read accounts that laud “Highway Patrolman” as a leap in Bruce’s storytelling that seems to have come from nowhere; I suspect it was inspired by the story of Robert Ford and Jesse James. (I’ll write more about that someday when the dice direct me to that song.)
As the song continues, Ford gives way to outrage. Ford becomes a pariah, “branded” among the cattle and cursed to wander the country. If that sounds more than a little like the story of Cain and Abel, that’s certainly not accidental: Ford is clearly a Cain figure, marked and destined for loneliness.
He swore he’d never hang his head in shame
And so he rode with his gun in his hand
Everywhere across the land people came
To meet the man who shot Jesse James
Branded, branded down among the cattle
He made his bed from a rock on the mountainside
Stood on the banks of his old world
Hung his head and cried
The final verses are a bit hard to make out at times–the song was still unfinished, remember–but once again, we hear echoes of another Springsteen original. Only this one wouldn’t see the light of day for more than a quarter century:
He was killed when he lied of all of the ???
Who was just out to make himself a name
He lays in the blood dying in the sun
And in his mind, he dreamed my way again
Well then he lay down ???
He spoke aloud as if trying every word
Well then I heard Jesse saying to himself
I’m sorry for what I’ve done
Those lines are too close to a key couplet in “Outlaw Pete” to be coincidence:
Dan smiled as he lay in his own blood dying in the sun
And whispered in Pete’s ear, “We cannot undo these things we’ve done.”
It may not have been a conscious recycling choice, but it had to have been at least a subconscious one. The imagery of Ford shooting James in the back, James dying in the sun, and the theme of repentance that comes too late–these are all key elements that obviously registered and resonated deeply with Bruce.
Fascinatingly, even though we know “Robert Ford” never made it to Nebraska, surviving records indicate that Bruce did record at least one take of a full-band arrangement with the E Street Band in April 1982. If so, it remains securely in the vault without even a hint of an escaped bootleg. Let’s hope we get to hear it someday when Bruce releases his next wave of outtakes.
Bonus: here’s one more demo take of “Robert Ford” — no lyrics in this one, though, only harmonies.
Robert Ford
Recorded: September 1981 – April 1982
Never released
Never performed
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