Roll of the Dice: We Take Care of Our Own

With his new single, “We Take Care of Our Own,” Springsteen seems to be throwing up a gauntlet: Misunderstand me. Go on, I dare you.” — Chris Willman, Reuters, January 19, 2012

The New York Times took that dare, and they weren’t the only ones.

At the 54th Annual Grammy Awards, Bruce Springsteen opened the show with the live debut of his new single.

In his review of the event, the New York Times music critic wrote, “The show opened with Mr. Springsteen humorlessly churning through a new song, ‘We Take Care of Our Own,’ which mistakes jingoism for empathy, ”

And just like that, 2012 became 1984.

But Bruce had learned a thing or two in the almost two decades between “Born in the U.S.A.” and “We Take Care of Our Own,” the most important of which: he put the song’s message in the title.

Casual listeners might misinterpret “We Take Care of Our Own” as boastful rather than chiding, but in doing so they at least have to acknowledge Bruce’s main point: whether at the national or a community level, we expect our citizens to look out for each other.

That’s why this particular moment from November 7, 2020 worked instead of baffled:

It worked because “We Take Care of Our Own” is more than just scolding disillusionment. It’s also a reminder: We are better than this.

And in the right context, it’s a promise: We will be better than this.

As the advance single and lead-off track for Wrecking Ball, “We Take Care of Our Own” introduced Bruce’s audience to the influence of new studio collaborator Ron Aniello, a breath of fresh air that restored and modernized the bright E Street sound without the sonic harshness that characterized most of the Brenden O’Brien era.

Bruce mined “We Take Care of Our Own” from the same earth that yielded “Born in the U.S.A.”–wrapping harshly critical lyrics in an anthemic backing track complete with ready-made fist-pumping moments.

It even sounds like classic E Street, which is ironic considering not a single band member plays an instrument on the track besides their leader. That’s Bruce on piano and organ (he wisely kept those parts simple), Ron supplies the bass; and comically they both play the same drum kit at the same time (dividing the drums between them), because neither Bruce nor Ron are sufficiently skilled to manage an entire drum kit on their own.

The members of the fourteen-piece(!) string section are the only instrumental musicians on the track besides Bruce and Ron.

The official video, however, is just Bruce, and it holds the distinction of being his first-ever lyric video.

Lyric videos had come into fashion in the years between Working on a Dream and Wrecking Ball, and Bruce couldn’t have selected a better track to try out the new format.

With his lyrics now visually front and center for the first time, Bruce compelled his audience to reckon with his message while they rocked to his music.

I been knocking on the door that holds the throne
I been looking for the map that leads me home
I been stumbling on good hearts turned to stone
The road of good intentions has gone dry as a bone
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
Wherever this flag’s flown
We take care of our own

There’s nuance in that first verse that might be masked in a first listen: Bruce isn’t condemning his countrymen–he acknowledges that Americans have good hearts and good intentions. Why aren’t we living up to our ideals, he asks.

He speaks truth to power, but power won’t answer the door. In a callback to “Long Walk Home” five years prior, we’ve strayed so far from our ideals that we can’t even find the way back without a map.

More than anything else, “We Take Care of Our Own” is a song of bewildered frustration: why are our values so disconnected from our actions? The chorus isn’t a statement of who we are but rather an incessant reminder of who we’re supposed to be.

From Chicago to New Orleans, from the muscle to the bone
From the shotgun shack to the Superdome
There ain’t no help, the cavalry stayed home
There ain’t no one hearing the bugle blowin’
We take care of our own
We take care of our own
Wherever this flag’s flown
We take care of our own

The second verse is the only part of the song that sounds dated. “We Take Care of Our Own” is the oldest song on the album, written circa 2009, only four years after Hurricane Katrina and three years after Bruce emotionally bonded with the city of New Orleans during his memorable Jazz Fest appearance.

The failure of the United States government to respond to its citizens in their hour of desperate need made a lasting impact on Bruce. While he’d become politically active months earlier during the 2004 presidential election, from 2006 through Barack Obama’s Inauguration Day in 2009, not a show would go by without Bruce speaking out on stage against the Bush administration.

But it’s the pleading bridge and final chorus that contain the beating heart of “We Take Care of Our Own.”

Where’re the eyes, the eyes with the will to see
Where’re the hearts that run over with mercy
Where’s the love that has not forsaken me
Where’s the work that set my hands, my soul free
Where’s the spirit that’ll reign over me
Where’s the promise from sea to the shining sea:

Wherever this flag is flown
We take care of our own

Bruce asks: who among us is willing to acknowledge our societal inequality? Who among us will do something about it?

And in the final lines, Bruce reveals his point-of-view character–this isn’t his own voice he’s singing in but rather a downtrodden citizen, forsaken by his country, unable to find a job that allows him to earn a living and contribute to his community, and unable to identify and connect with the national character he’d been taught to believe would help those willing to help themselves.

We’re supposed to take care of our own, he says. Why am I excluded?

It’s a question that’s only grown in importance, severity, and urgency since its release in 2012. Over the past four years, “We Take Care of Our Own” has become increasingly ironic as the United States government answered Bruce’s call to action by simply redefining who it considers as “our own.”

So even though he’d been using it throughout the campaign, it was a particularly powerful statement when President-elect Biden (a professed Springsteen fan) chose “We Take Care of Our Own” as the song that re-introduced him to America as their next leader.

America may have a long walk home, but it only starts when we admit we’re lost and remind ourselves where home is.

We’ve taken that first step, and although its songwriter couldn’t have foreseen this particular future in 2009, “We Take Care of our Own” serves as a pretty good beacon to light our way.

Bonus: Bruce played “We Take Care of Our Own” with the E Street Band nightly throughout the Wrecking Ball Tour, but it was a non-tour performance late in the year that proved the most powerful.

At  Bruce’s sixth annual appearance at the Stand Up For Heroes benefit, Bruce played an acoustic version of “We Take Care of Our Own.”

In a stripped-down arrangement with warm vocals, the full plaintive power of the song’s plea was revealed for the first time. It remains my all-time favorite performance of this song.

We Take Care of Our Own
Recorded: 2011
Released: Wrecking Ball (2012)
First performed: February 10, 2012 (Los Angeles, CA)
Last performed: June 22, 2016 (Copenhagen, Denmark)

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