AMERICAN LAND

Album version

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Whoa!

What is this land America, so many travel there
I'm going now while I'm still young, my darling meet me there
Wish me luck my lovely, I'll send for you when I can
And we'll make our home in the American land

Over there all the women wear silk and satin to their knees
And children, dear, the sweets, I hear, are growing on the trees
Gold comes rushing out the rivers straight into your hands
When you make your home in the American land

There's diamonds in the sidewalk, the gutters lined in song
Dear, I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long
There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man
Who'll make his home in the American land

Whoa!

Whoa!

I docked at Ellis Island in the city of light and spire
I wandered to the valley of red-hot steel and fire
We made the steel that built the cities with the sweat of our two hands
We made our home in the American land

Go!
There's diamonds in the sidewalk, the gutters lined in song
Dear, I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long
There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man
Who'll make his home in the American land

Whoa!
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
???!
Come on!

The McNicholas, the Posalskis, the Smiths, Zerillis too
The Blacks, the Irish, Italians, the Germans and the Jews
They come across the water a thousand miles from home
With nothing in their bellies but the fire down below

They died building the railroads, they worked to bones and skin
They died in the fields and factories, names scattered in the wind
They died to get here a hundred years ago, they're still dying now
Their hands that built the country we're always trying to keep out

There's diamonds in the sidewalk, the gutters lined in song
Dear, I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long
There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man
Who'll make his home in the American land
Who'll make his home in the American land
Who'll make his home in the American land
Whoa!

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Info

AMERICAN LAND is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and released on his 2012 album Wrecking Ball. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's album version of AMERICAN LAND as released in 2012.

Writing and Recording

In the liner notes of the We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions - American Land Edition album, Springsteen wrote that AMERICAN LAND is "an original song inspired by 'He Lies in the American Land,' a poem by immigrant steelworker Andrew Kovaly and set to music by Pete Seeger." The song uses the first verse from Kovaly's HE LIES IN THE AMERICAN LAND.

Zirilli, name-checked in the song, the maiden name of Springsteen's mother, Adele, who's of Italian ancestry.

Bruce Springsteen first recorded AMERICAN LAND with The Seeger Sessions Band on 21 Jan 2006, during the last of the three Seeger Sessions. According to Brucebase, he also recorded a solo version at his home studio sometime later in 2006. Both studio versions remain unreleased.

A studio version was included on Springsteen's Wrecking Ball album. It was probably recorded sometime in 2011. The line-up on this track is Bruce Springsteen, Ron Aniello (backing vocals, hurdy gurdy, and more), Max Weinberg (drums), Charles Giordano (B-3 organ and celeste), Rob Lebert (backing vocals), Soozie Tyrell (violin and backing vocals), Ross Peterson (backing vocals), Cliff Norrell (backing vocals), Steven Van Zandt (mandolin and backing vocals), and Art Baron (sousaphone and penny whistle).

Lyrics Variations

The lyrics for the live versions of AMERICAN LAND have slightly changed from when it debuted in June 2006.

The live 22 Jun 2006 version and live 25 Jun 2006 version use the partially unintelligible "The ??? Asians, Arabs miles from home / Come across the water with a fire down below" lines in the fourth verse. These lines would soon after become "Come across the water a thousand miles from home / With nothin' in their bellies but the fire down below", as per the printed lyrics in the booklet of the We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions - American Land Edition album.

Instead or the usual "I wandered to the valley of red-hot steel and fire", the live 25 Jun 2006 version uses the "She met me in the valley of red-hot steel and fire" line in the third verse, as per the printed lyrics in the booklet of the We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions - American Land Edition album. That same version also omits the second verse ("Over there the women wear...").

Depending on the European country he's performing in, Springsteen often replaced "Germans" in the fourth verse by "Austrians", "British", "Danish", "Dutch", "Finnish", "French", "Norwegians", "Scots", "Spanish", "Swedes", "Swiss"... See the live 28 Jun 2009 version for an example. During the 28 Mar 2008 show in Portland, OR, there were women in the pit that wore shirts that said "Lesbians [heart] Bruce", so he replaced "Germans" by "lesbians". During the Glastonbury festival in England on 27 Jun 2009, he sang "The Blacks, Italians, the English, the Germans and the Jews".

On the Magic Tour and Working On A Dream Tour, Springsteen changed "...trying to keep down" into "...trying to keep out" in the last verse, apparently referring to the growing resistance against immigration.

Wrecking Ball

Wrecking Ball is Bruce Springsteen's seventeenth studio album. It was produced by Ron Aniello with Bruce Springsteen and executive producer Jon Landau and features special guest appearances from Tom Morello and Matt Chamberlain. The album features 11 new Springsteen recordings and a special edition includes two bonus tracks. All 13 tracks are Springsteen compositions, three of which have previously been released as live versions.

In 2010-2011, before the album came together, Springsteen was originally working on another project. In a December 2013 interview for Rolling Stone, Ron Aniello told Andy Greene: "Those were about 30 or 40 songs. They were very unique for him, unlike anything I'd ever heard." It was on 09 Jan 2011 that Aniello first went to Colts Neck to help Springsteen finish arrangements for the project he was working on. Those songs would eventually become the core of Western Stars, which wasn't released until 2019.

After they had been working together for about a month, Springsteen wrote EASY MONEY which was a different style of song to what they've been working on before. He had also written JACK OF ALL TRADES, WE TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN, WRECKING BALL, SHACKLED AND DRAWN, and ROCKY GROUND. The latter two were originally written for a gospel film project he was working on and on which he spent on-and-off about a year. As Aniello told WCHR-FM's Tom Cunningham, "things just started steam rolling into this other record, you know, not sure what was going round in his mind." Springsteen was bringing in more songs, and it was evident that the direction of the music was changing. Jon Landau came in, listened to the music, and after a discussion with Springsteen they decided to do a new album. "Literally, this man bought in a new song every day. He just bulldozed us with these songs," Aniello explained.

Springsteen was coming in every morning with a new song and it would start with just him and his guitar. He would then sing a rhythm to Aniello or sit down at the drums and play a beat. Aniello was looping these drum beats – no drum machines were used on Wrecking Ball – and adding other layers, like loops of percussion, also played by Springsteen. According to Aniello, this was done just for convenience because they were alone in studio, songs were coming in quick, and there were no other musicians there. The loops stayed, and other instruments were added at later stages. "Ron brought a large library of sound that allowed me to explore – like maybe a hip-hop drum loop or country-blues stomp loop," Springsteen told Rolling Stone in 2012. "The actual drums came later. There was no preconceived set of instruments that needed to be used, I could go anywhere, do anything, use anything. It was very wide open." Everybody who was around was participating in the recording. They even jumped on pieces of plywood, built some risers to stomp on, and hit couches to makes noises.

Wrecking Ball was mainly recorded at Stone Hill Studio, Springsteen's home studio at his Colts Neck, NJ farmhouse. The album was released on Columbia Records on 05 Mar 2012 in the UK, 06 Mar 2012 in the United States, and 21 Mar 2012 in Japan.

Wrecking Ball was recorded with a large ensemble of musicians. There's a core of six musicians and the others were just guest artists. Some E Street Band members appear on a few of the tracks. According to Ron Aniello, the album credits are "a mess" and will be revised in future reissues.

• Bruce Springsteen (lead vocals, guitars, banjo, piano, organ, drums, percussion, and loops) appears on all of the album's tracks.
• Ron Aniello (guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, loops, percussion, hurdy gurdy, and backing vocals) appears on all of the album's tracks. He is also the album producer.
• Matt Chamberlain (drums and percussion) is an American musician, drummer, producer, songwriter, and session player. He appears on track 3, track 5, and track 8.
• Max Weinberg (drums) is a member of The E Street Band and appears on track 7, track 11, and track 13.
• Steve Jordan (percussion) has previously appeared on Springsteen's Devils & Dust, playing drums and percussion. He appears on track 2.
• Kevin Buell (drums and backing vocals) is Springsteen's guitar technician. He appears on track 5.
• Charles Giordano (accordion, piano, B-3 organ, and celeste) recorded and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band and became an unofficial member of The E Street Band in 2008. He appears on most of the album's tracks.
• Marc Muller (pedal steel guitar) is a multi-instrumentalist who mainly plays string instruments. He plays pedal steel guitar on track 3.
• Tom Morello (electric guitar) appears on track 4 and track 6.
• Greg Leisz (banjo, mandola, and lap steel) is a multi-instrumentalist, mainly playing lap and pedal steel guitars, guitar, mandolin, and bass. He appears on track 8 and track 11.
• Rob Lebert (electric guitar and backing vocals) appears on track 5, track 7, track 8, track 12, and track 13.
• Darrell Leonard (trumpet and bass trumpet) is a Los Angeles based trumpet player, composer and arranger. He appears on track 11.
• Curt Ramm (trumpet and cornet) toured with The Seeger Sessions Band. He appears on track 3, track 4, track 7, track 8, track 9, and track 10.
• Clark Gayton (trombone) toured with The Seeger Sessions Band. He appears on track 3, track 4, track 8, track 9, and track 10.
• Stan Harrison (clarinet, alto sax, and tenor sax) has previously appeared on Springsteen's The Promise, playing tenor saxophone. He appears on track 3, track 4, track 8, track 9, and track 10.
• Ed Manion (tenor sax and baritone sax) is a member of The Miami Horns and he toured with The E Street Band in 1988 and recorded and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band. He appears on track 3, track 4, track 8, track 9, and track 10.
• Dan Levine (alto horn and euphonium) is a New York City based musician who plays several horn instruments. He appears on track 3, track 4, track 9, and track 10.
• Art Baron (euphonium, tuba, sousaphone, and penny whistle) recorded and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band. He appears on track 3, track 4, track 5, track 9, and track 10.
• Clarence Clemons (saxophone) was a member of The E Street Band and appears on track 7 and track 10.
• Soozie Tyrell (violin and backing vocals) started touring with The E Street Band in 2002 and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band in 2006. She appears on most of the album's tracks.
• Patti Scialfa (backing vocals and vocal arrangements) is Springsteen's wife and a member of The E Street Band since 1984. She appears on most of the album's tracks.
• Lisa Lowell (backing vocals) has been singing backup vocals on several Springsteen albums since 1992 and recorded and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band. She appears on track 1, track 2, track 3, track 6, track 7, track 10, and track 12.
• Cindy Mizelle (background vocals) toured with The Seeger Sessions Band and The E Street Band in 2009. She appears on track 3.
• Ross Peterson (backing vocals) appears on track 3, track 5, track 7, track 8, track 12, and track 13.
• Cliff Norrell (tuba and backing vocals) is the album's recording engineer. He appears on track 3, track 5, track 7, track 8, track 12, and track 13.
• New York String Section (strings), also known as the New York Chamber Consort, consists of Rob Mathes (orchestration), Sandy Park (string contractor), Lisa Kim (concertmaster), Myumju Lee (violin), Ann Lehmaan (violin), Lizz Lim (violin), Johanna Marher (violin), Annaliesa Place (violin), Fiona Simon (violin), Sharon Yamada (violin), Jung Sun Yu (violin), Karen Dreyfus (viola), Daniel Panner (viola), Robert Rinehart (viola), Mina Smith (cello), and Alan Stepansky (cello). It appears on track 1, track 4, and track 7.
• Victorious Gospel Choir (backing vocals) has previously appeared on Springsteen's The Rising. On Wrecking Ball, the choir includes Michelle Moore, Antoinette Savage, Corinda Carford, Tiffeny Andrews, Soloman Cobbs, and Lillie Brown. It appears on track 2, track 9, and track 10. Michelle Moore is credited separately on the three tracks. The remaining singers are credited individually on track 2, and as the Victorious Gospel Choir on track 9 and track 10.
• Jeremy McCoy (bass violin) is an orchestral double bass player. He appears on track 12.
• Dan Shelly (bassoon) is an orchestral bassoon player. He appears on track 12.
• Mark Romatz (contrabassoon) is an orchestral bassoon player. He appears on track 12.
• Steven Van Zandt (mandolin and backing vocals) is a member of The E Street Band. He appears on track 7, track 10, and track 13.

Wrecking Ball is available in three configurations: standard CD edition, special CD edition, and double-disc LP. The special CD edition features two bonus tracks and exclusive packaging. The double-disc LP is pressed on 180-gram vinyl and includes the standard CD edition of the album.

The album topped the charts in 16 countries, including the United States and the UK.

Other Official Releases

Other versions of AMERICAN LAND were also officially released.

Live History: on-tour

In preparation for The Seeger Sessions Tour, AMERICAN LAND is known to have been practiced during at least two of the private rehearsals that took place in September 2006 in Asbury Park prior to the tour's second European leg.

AMERICAN LAND was performed 30 times during The Seeger Sessions Tour (56 dates, April to November 2006); every single show from 22 Jun 2006 and till the end of the tour. It was the show opener on the last three dates of the U.S. leg, and the show closer on every date of the second European leg. The live 22 Jun 2006 version of AMERICAN LAND was released on the We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions - American Land Edition album in 2006. The live 11 Nov 2006 version of AMERICAN LAND was released on the Wembley Arena, November 11, 2006 official live download in 2020. The live 18 Nov 2006 version of AMERICAN LAND was released on the Live In Dublin album and home video in 2007.

In preparation for the Magic Tour, AMERICAN LAND was performed during all of the tour's three public warm-up rehearsal shows that took place in September 2007 in Asbury Park and East Rutherford. The song is also known to have been practiced during at least one of the private rehearsals that took place in September 2007 in Asbury Park prior to the tour's first leg, and during at least one of the private rehearsals that took place in February 2008 in Asbury Park prior to the tour's second U.S. leg.

AMERICAN LAND was performed 100 times during the Magic Tour (100 dates, October 2007 to August 2008); that is each and every one of the tour's regular dates. The song was always played during the encores and featured guest musicians on several occasions. The 30 Aug 2008 performance was during Harley-Davidson's 105th Anniversary Celebration. The live 19 Nov 2007 version of AMERICAN LAND was released on the TD Banknorth Garden, Boston 11/19/07 official live download in 2018. The live 22 Apr 2008 version of AMERICAN LAND was released on the St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL, April 22, 2008 official live download in 2019. The live 28 Apr 2008 version of AMERICAN LAND was released on the Greensboro, North Carolina April 28, 2008 official live download in 2020. The live 23 Aug 2008 version of AMERICAN LAND was released on the Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO 8/23/2008 official live download in 2017.

In preparation for the Working On A Dream Tour, AMERICAN LAND was performed during both of the tour's two public warm-up rehearsal shows that took place in March 2009 in Asbury Park. The song is also known to have been practiced during at least 2 of the private rehearsals that took place in March 2009 in Asbury Park prior to the tour's first leg.

AMERICAN LAND was performed 83 times during the Working On A Dream Tour (83 dates, April to November 2009); that is each and every one of the tour's regular dates. The song was always played during the encores and often featured guest musicians. Most performances of AMERICAN LAND on this tour featured an instrumental snippet of THEME FROM SHAFT in the midsection. The live 04 May 2009 version of AMERICAN LAND was released on the Nassau Coliseum 05.04.09 official live download in 2020. The live 28 Jun 2009 version of AMERICAN LAND was released on the London Calling: Live In Hyde Park home video in 2010. The live 20 Oct 2009 version of AMERICAN LAND was released on the Wachovia Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA 10/20/09 official live download in 2017. The live 07 Nov 2009 version of AMERICAN LAND was released on the MSG 11.07.09 official live download in 2020. The live 08 Nov 2009 version of AMERICAN LAND was released on the MSG Nov 08, 2009 official live download in 2018. The live 22 Nov 2009 version of AMERICAN LAND was released on the HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY 11/22/2009 official live download in 2016.

AMERICAN LAND was performed 25 times during the Wrecking Ball Tour (133 dates, March 2012 to September 2013). The song featured guest musicians on several occasions. The live 12 Nov 2012 version of AMERICAN LAND was released on the St. Paul, MN Nov 12, 2012 official live download in 2020.

AMERICAN LAND was performed once during the High Hopes Tour (34 dates, January to May 2014), on 08 Feb 2014 in Perth, Australia. Audio recordings for most High Hopes Tour shows are officially available for purchase.

AMERICAN LAND was performed once during The River Tour 2016 (75 dates, January to September 2016), on 17 Mar 2016 in Los Angeles, CA. Audio recordings for all The River Tour 2016 shows are officially available for purchase.

AMERICAN LAND was performed 5 times during the Summer '17 Tour (14 dates, January and February 2017). Audio recordings for all Summer '17 Tour shows are officially available for purchase.

Live History: off-tour

AMERICAN LAND was performed off-tour on 29 May 2020 at Fenway Park in Boston, MA, during a remote guest appearance with Dropkick Murphys at their Streaming Outta Fenway concert. See the live 29 May 2020 version for more details.

Covers

At least 4 artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's AMERICAN LAND.

Credits

Thanks Karen, Will Baron, and Deborah Shuman for the help. Thanks DonQuijote82 for the info about the I Luf cover version.

Request

Please contact me if you have scans for or additional info about 1000 Mile Highway's album Long, Straight And Live. If you have any additions, comments, or corrections to this page, please contact me via the below form or by email: .

Available Versions

List of available versions of AMERICAN LAND on this website:

AMERICAN LAND [Album version]
AMERICAN LAND [Live 22 Jun 2006 version]
AMERICAN LAND [Live 25 Jun 2006 version]
AMERICAN LAND [Live 18 Nov 2006 version]
AMERICAN LAND [Live 28 Jun 2009 version]
AMERICAN LAND [Live 29 May 2020 version]

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Page last updated: 30 Jan 2021