{"id":25935,"date":"2021-04-07T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-07T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/?p=25935"},"modified":"2021-04-07T05:20:04","modified_gmt":"2021-04-07T12:20:04","slug":"roll-of-the-dice-well-all-man-the-guns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/estreetshuffle.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/07\/roll-of-the-dice-well-all-man-the-guns\/","title":{"rendered":"Roll of the Dice: We’ll All Man the Guns"},"content":{"rendered":"

“I wanna do a song we just got together. This is a song called ‘All Man the Guns’ and it’s about a guy heading off to war… and he’s talking to his girl and saying ‘wait for me cause I’ll be back, you know, and everything will be fine.’ And they never do!'”  <\/span>–Bruce Springsteen, August 14, 1970<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

If there was ever an early Springsteen song that we don’t<\/em> need an explanation for, it’s “We’ll All Man the Guns” (also known as “All Man the Guns”). Or do we?<\/p>\n

“We’ll All Man the Guns” seems as straightforward as early Springsteen originals get. Set in the midst of the Vietnam War, Bruce’s narrator is a soldier facing the horrors of war and sustained by the thought of his love (Mary, of course–even at age 20, Bruce’s love interests were named Mary) waiting for him to return home.<\/p>\n

There’s only one documented performance of “We’ll All Man the Guns,” and judging from Bruce’s introductory explanation, it might have been the very first time he’d played it.<\/p>\n

Take a listen to that Steel Mill performance below. I know it’s a distant recording, but Bruce’s vocals (and even his patter with the band) are remarkably clear–there’s not a single line we can’t make out.<\/p>\n