2006 studio version
| Pete Seeger: | Men walking 'long the railroad tracks |
| Going someplace, there's no going back | |
| Highway patrol choppers coming up over the ridge | |
| Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge | |
| Shelter line stretching 'round the corner | |
| Welcome to the new world order | |
| Families sleeping in their cars in the southwest | |
| No home, no job, no peace, no rest | |
| Pete Seeger: | The highway is alive tonight |
| But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes | |
| I'm sitting down here in the campfire light | |
| Searching for the ghost of Tom Joad | |
| Bruce Springsteen: | He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag |
| Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag | |
| Waiting for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last | |
| In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass | |
| You got a one-way ticket to the promised land | |
| You got a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand | |
| Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock | |
| Bathing in the city aqueduct | |
| Pete Seeger: | The highway is alive tonight |
| Bruce Springsteen: | The highway is alive tonight |
| Pete Seeger: | But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Where it's headed everybody knows |
| Pete Seeger: | I'm sitting down here in the campfire light |
| Bruce Springsteen: | I'm sitting down here in the campfire light |
| Pete Seeger: | Searching for the ghost of Tom Joad |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Waiting on the ghost of Tom Joad |
| Pete Seeger: | Now Tom said, "Mom, wherever there's a cop beating a guy |
| Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries | |
| Where there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air | |
| Look for me, Mom, I'll be there | |
| Wherever there's somebody fighting for a place to stand | |
| Or a decent job or a helping hand | |
| Wherever somebody's struggling to be free | |
| Look in their eyes, Mom, you'll see me" | |
| Bruce Springsteen: | "Wherever somebody's struggling to be free |
| Look in their eyes, Mom, you'll see me" | |
| Pete Seeger: | The highway is alive tonight |
| Bruce Springsteen: | The highway is alive tonight |
| Pete Seeger: | But nobody's kidding nobody about where it goes |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Where it's heading everybody knows |
| Pete Seeger: | I'm sitting down here in the campfire light |
| Bruce Springsteen: | I'm sitting down here in the campfire light |
| Pete Seeger: | Searching for the ghost of Tom Joad |
| Bruce Springsteen: | Waiting on the ghost of Tom Joad |
The above lyrics are for an acoustic studio version of THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD recorded in 2006 as duet with Pete Seeger, whose parts are spoken. This version, with the title shortened to "Ghost of Tom Joad", was exclusively released on the Sowing The Seeds: The 10th Anniversary in 2007. The US-only compilation commemorates the Appleseed Recordings label's tenth anniversary.
The track was recorded at various locations between mid- and late 2006. Pete Seeger's part was recorded on 04 Jul 2006 at his cabin in Beacon, NY. Springsteen's part was recorded later at Boxwood Studio, his home studio in New Jersey. The backing band's individual parts were recorded at various locations and then everything was mixed together. See the "Track Credits" and "Liner Notes" sections below for more details.
Pete Seeger: vocal
Bruce Springsteen: vocal, acoustic guitar, harmonica
Mark Dann: acoustic guitar
Ken Lovelett: percussion
David Hamburger: Dobro
Tim Carbone: fiddle
Michael Visceglia: bass
Produced by David Seitz, Jim Musselman and Bruce Springsteen
Engineered by David Seitz
Mixed by David Seitz at Shelter Island Sound, New York City, N.Y.
Mix assistants: Asia Meirovich, Matt Gil
Acoustic guitar recorded by Mark Dann at Mark Dann Recording, Woodstock, N.Y.
Dobro recorded at Shade Tree Recording Studio, Austin, TX.
Engineer: Andy Melvin
Percussion recorded at Sonart Studios, Woodstock, N.Y.
Fiddle recorded at Berkeley Sound Artists, Berkeley, CA.
Engineer: James Lebrecht
Seeger vocals recorded at Pete's cabin, Beacon, N.Y.
Assistant Engineer: Raeann Zschokke
Springsteen vocals recorded at Boxwood Studio
Engineer: Toby Scott
Liner notes from the Sowing The Seeds: The 10th Anniversary album:
I asked Pete to sing this song and we recorded it, among others, at his cabin on July 4, 2006, at what I now call "the Springsteen Sessions." Bruce and his manager, Jon Landau, liked the idea and Bruce added vocal, guitar and harmonica tracks to the song. The arrangement is structured with Pete talk-singing first and then Bruce repeating some of the lyrics. I did this purposely I feel Bruce has carried on Pete's legacy in many ways, and when Pete says, "Wherever someone is struggling to be free/Look in their eyes, Mom, you will see me," and Bruce echoes the line, it is the sound of a torch being passed. The song's last verse is, indeed, a summary of how Pete has lived his life speaking for the voiceless, putting himself on the line regardless of consequence. David Seitz did a great job of putting this song together and adding the instrumentation. (A second Seeger/ Springsteen collaboration, "Hobo's Lullaby," will appear on our Feels Like Home fund- and awareness-raising multi-artist CD available later this year.)
— Jim Musselman, president and founder of Appleseed Recordings
In 1997 I recorded "We Shall Overcome" for Appleseed's Where Have All the Flowers Gone: The Songs of Pete Seeger. Growin' up a rock 'n' roll kid, I didn't know a lot about Pete's music or the depth of his influence until I was asked to do a song for the Seeger tribute CD. Hearing this music and our initial '97 session (where we recorded seven songs for the tribute CD) sent me off, casually at first, on a quest.
— Bruce Springsteen
List of available versions of THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD on this website:
THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD [1995 album version]