Springsteen’s seventh record begins with the a striking piano chord played by the late Danny Federici, with Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan immediately coming in with the drums and synthesizer on the off-beat respectively. Within the first second you know it’s an E Street Band record, a sound in stark contrast to Springsteen’s previous record, the solo effort, ‘Nebraska’ (#150). Springsteen had written and recorded this song during the ‘Nebraska’ sessions. It was originally a slightly faster acoustic Blues song (yes, really! It’s featured on the release, ‘Tracks,’ if you care to listen). Often mistaken as a flag waving song, it was actually about the hardships veterans faced after returning home from war, specifically the Vietnam War, in this case.

Following his first ever #1 record, ‘The River,’ Springsteen decided to change how he approached records. Previously he would take the bones of a song to the studio and flesh it out there, often slowing down the recording process. This time he decided to fully write the songs, record demos, which he’d present to the heart-stopping, pants-dropping, house-rocking, earth-quaking, booty-shaking, love-making, legendary E Street Band. He acquired a 4-track cassette recorder and one Winter night, 3 January 1982, Springsteen sat down and managed to record 15 songs. The music on the demos was sparse.