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Bruce Springsteen on America

Bruce Springsteen’s new album “Wrecking Ball” explores themes of a nation’s faded promise, of its lost covenant with its workers, veterans and youth. As he was working on the album, a new book gave him the chance to write his thoughts about three decades of tough times in our nation. The following are excerpts of his foreword to “Someplace Like America,” by Washington Post photographer Michael Williamson and writer Dale Maharidge, both Pulitzer Prize winners.

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Bruce Springsteen: “I had completed most of the "Tom Joad" record when one night, unable to sleep, I pulled this book [Dale Maharidge and Michael Williamson’s “The Saga of the New Underclass: Journey to Nowhere”] down off my living room shelf.”

Bruce Springsteen backstage at 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“I read it in one sitting and I lay awake that night disturbed by its power and frightened by its implications. In the next week, I wrote ‘Youngstown’ and ’The New Timer.’ “ <br>
<br>LEFT: “The Saga of the New Underclass: Journey to Nowhere”' written by Dale Maharidge and photographed by Michael Williamson. RIGHT: Bruce Springsteen at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore in November 2009.

“I read it in one sitting and I lay awake that night disturbed by its power and frightened by its implications. In the next week, I wrote ‘Youngstown’ and ’The New Timer.’ “

LEFT: “The Saga of the New Underclass: Journey to Nowhere”' written by Dale Maharidge and photographed by Michael Williamson. RIGHT: Bruce Springsteen at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore in November 2009.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“Dale Maharidge and Michael S. Williamson put real lives, names, and faces on statistics we'd all been hearing about throughout the Eighties.”<br>
<br>Michael S. Williamson, left, and Dale Maharidge, on a freight train in 1982, somewhere north of Fresno, Calif.

“Dale Maharidge and Michael S. Williamson put real lives, names, and faces on statistics we'd all been hearing about throughout the Eighties.”

Michael S. Williamson, left, and Dale Maharidge, on a freight train in 1982, somewhere north of Fresno, Calif.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“People who all their lives had played by the rules, done the right thing, and had come up empty, men and women whose work and sacrifice had built this country, who'd given their sons to its wars and then whose lives were marginalized or discarded.”<br>
<br>TOP: Ken Platt Jr., with his son, Ken, in front of the abandoned Jeanette blast furnace. BOTTOM: Ken Platt Jr., with his son, Ken, on the front porch of the elder Platt's home. In his song “Youngstown,” Springsteen referred to the blast furnace as “the Jenny.”<br>

“People who all their lives had played by the rules, done the right thing, and had come up empty, men and women whose work and sacrifice had built this country, who'd given their sons to its wars and then whose lives were marginalized or discarded.”

TOP: Ken Platt Jr., with his son, Ken, in front of the abandoned Jeanette blast furnace. BOTTOM: Ken Platt Jr., with his son, Ken, on the front porch of the elder Platt's home. In his song “Youngstown,” Springsteen referred to the blast furnace as “the Jenny.”

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“I lay awake that night thinking: What if the craft I'd learned was suddenly deemed obsolete, no longer needed? What would I do to take care of my family? What wouldn't I do?”<br>
<br>Jim and Bonnie Alexander in 1983. The couple and their two small children left Michigan for Texas when their house was foreclosed on. After Jim lost a job, the family moved into a tent near Houston. The family had run low on food and Jim said he would rob a grocery store rather than see his kids go hungry. When revisited in 2009, he said he fortunately didn’t have to resort to doing that.

“I lay awake that night thinking: What if the craft I'd learned was suddenly deemed obsolete, no longer needed? What would I do to take care of my family? What wouldn't I do?”

Jim and Bonnie Alexander in 1983. The couple and their two small children left Michigan for Texas when their house was foreclosed on. After Jim lost a job, the family moved into a tent near Houston. The family had run low on food and Jim said he would rob a grocery store rather than see his kids go hungry. When revisited in 2009, he said he fortunately didn’t have to resort to doing that.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“Without getting on a soapbox, these are the questions Dale Maharidge and Michael S. Williamson pose with their words and pictures. Men and women struggling to take care of their own in the most impossible conditions and still moving on, surviving.”<br>
<br>Frank and Frances in their shanty in the brush along the Colorado River, Bullhead City, Ariz., 1995. The couple had just come home from working at a casino across the river in Laughlin, Nev. They said they became voluntarily homeless — it was the only way they could save enough money to buy a trailer to avoid high rent that consumed their meager salaries.

“Without getting on a soapbox, these are the questions Dale Maharidge and Michael S. Williamson pose with their words and pictures. Men and women struggling to take care of their own in the most impossible conditions and still moving on, surviving.”

Frank and Frances in their shanty in the brush along the Colorado River, Bullhead City, Ariz., 1995. The couple had just come home from working at a casino across the river in Laughlin, Nev. They said they became voluntarily homeless — it was the only way they could save enough money to buy a trailer to avoid high rent that consumed their meager salaries.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

“As we tuck our children into bed at night, this is an America many of us fail to see, but it is a part of the country we live in, an increasing part.”<br>
<br>The Murray boys, who lived in a tent in the hobo jungle on the bank of the Sacramento River with their father who had lost his job as a lumberman in Broderick, Calif., photographed in 1989. The family traveled to the Sacramento River near Broderick in hopes of better luck in the Golden State. They had been living on the river for four months when the photo was taken.

“As we tuck our children into bed at night, this is an America many of us fail to see, but it is a part of the country we live in, an increasing part.”

The Murray boys, who lived in a tent in the hobo jungle on the bank of the Sacramento River with their father who had lost his job as a lumberman in Broderick, Calif., photographed in 1989. The family traveled to the Sacramento River near Broderick in hopes of better luck in the Golden State. They had been living on the river for four months when the photo was taken.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“I believe a place and a people are judged not just by their accomplishments, but also by their compassion and sense of justice. In the future, that's the frontier where we will all be tested. How well we do will be the America we leave behind for our children and grandchildren.”<br>
<br>Collection jar in a convenience store, Gun Barrel City, Tex., 2009.

“I believe a place and a people are judged not just by their accomplishments, but also by their compassion and sense of justice. In the future, that's the frontier where we will all be tested. How well we do will be the America we leave behind for our children and grandchildren.”

Collection jar in a convenience store, Gun Barrel City, Tex., 2009.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“Nowhere, Dale and Michael's 1995 book, [tells] the story of the losses suffered by American labor in the second half of the twentieth century. Someplace Like America takes the measure of the tidal wave thirty years and more in coming, a wave that Journey first saw rolling, dark and angry, on the horizon line.”<br>
<br>Wyoming, 1995.

“Nowhere, Dale and Michael's 1995 book, [tells] the story of the losses suffered by American labor in the second half of the twentieth century. Someplace Like America takes the measure of the tidal wave thirty years and more in coming, a wave that Journey first saw rolling, dark and angry, on the horizon line.”

Wyoming, 1995.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“It is the story of the deconstruction of the American dream, piece by piece, literally steel beam by steel beam, broken up and shipped out south, east, and points unknown, told in the voices of those who've lived it.”<br>
<br>This scrap heap is parts of several mill and factories in Youngstown, Ohio. The former steel town presently has no operating major mills. The scrap is being separated to be recycled. The sites of the former mills nearby are being cleared for a high-tech industrial park.

“It is the story of the deconstruction of the American dream, piece by piece, literally steel beam by steel beam, broken up and shipped out south, east, and points unknown, told in the voices of those who've lived it.”

This scrap heap is parts of several mill and factories in Youngstown, Ohio. The former steel town presently has no operating major mills. The scrap is being separated to be recycled. The sites of the former mills nearby are being cleared for a high-tech industrial park.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“Here is the cost in blood, treasure, and spirit, that the post-industrialization of the United States has levied on its most loyal and forgotten citizens, the men and women who built the buildings we live in, laid the highways we drive on, made things, and asked for nothing in return but a good day's work and a decent living.“<br>
<br>Joe Marshall Jr. and Joe Marshall Sr., amid the ruins of the Ohio Works, Youngstown, 1983. The U.S. Steel Corp. dynamited the blast furnaces. The father and son had nearly 50 years combined at the plant. The elder Marshall, who served in World War II, was the inspiration for the line, “Them big boys did what Hitler couldn’t do” in Springsteen’s song, “Youngstown.”

“Here is the cost in blood, treasure, and spirit, that the post-industrialization of the United States has levied on its most loyal and forgotten citizens, the men and women who built the buildings we live in, laid the highways we drive on, made things, and asked for nothing in return but a good day's work and a decent living.“

Joe Marshall Jr. and Joe Marshall Sr., amid the ruins of the Ohio Works, Youngstown, 1983. The U.S. Steel Corp. dynamited the blast furnaces. The father and son had nearly 50 years combined at the plant. The elder Marshall, who served in World War II, was the inspiration for the line, “Them big boys did what Hitler couldn’t do” in Springsteen’s song, “Youngstown.”

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“It tells of the political failure of our representatives to stem this tide (when not outright abetting it), of their failure to steer our economy in a direction that might serve the majority of hard-working American citizens, and of their allowing of the hijacking of an entire social system into the service of the elite of the elite.”<br>
<br>A year and a half after President Obama's inauguration. Near Howard University, 2010.

“It tells of the political failure of our representatives to stem this tide (when not outright abetting it), of their failure to steer our economy in a direction that might serve the majority of hard-working American citizens, and of their allowing of the hijacking of an entire social system into the service of the elite of the elite.”

A year and a half after President Obama's inauguration. Near Howard University, 2010.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“The stories in this book allow you to feel the pounding destruction of purpose, identity, and meaning in American life, sucked out by a plutocracy determined to eke out its last drops of tribute, no matter what the human cost.”<br>
<br>A closed power plant for a failed business park in Youngstown, Ohio.

“The stories in this book allow you to feel the pounding destruction of purpose, identity, and meaning in American life, sucked out by a plutocracy determined to eke out its last drops of tribute, no matter what the human cost.”

A closed power plant for a failed business park in Youngstown, Ohio.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“And yet it is not a story of defeat. It also details the family ties, inner strength, faith, and too tough-to-die resilience that carry our people forward when all is aligned against them.”<br>
<br>A resident of Bayview, an impoverished Eastern Shore town of fifth-generation descendants of freed slaves, prays for better times, 1998.

“And yet it is not a story of defeat. It also details the family ties, inner strength, faith, and too tough-to-die resilience that carry our people forward when all is aligned against them.”

A resident of Bayview, an impoverished Eastern Shore town of fifth-generation descendants of freed slaves, prays for better times, 1998.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“When you read about workers today, they are discussed mainly in terms through the use of statistics (the unemployed), trade (the need to eliminate and offshore their jobs in the name of increased profit), and unions (usually depicted as a purely negative drag on the economy).”<br>
<br>Pushing paper, Cascade Flats mill, Gorham, N.H., 2009. The plant had closed but was rescued early in 2011 when it was bought by a venture capitalist interested in saving American manufacturing. It is the last paper mill operating in the state's North Country.

“When you read about workers today, they are discussed mainly in terms through the use of statistics (the unemployed), trade (the need to eliminate and offshore their jobs in the name of increased profit), and unions (usually depicted as a purely negative drag on the economy).”

Pushing paper, Cascade Flats mill, Gorham, N.H., 2009. The plant had closed but was rescued early in 2011 when it was bought by a venture capitalist interested in saving American manufacturing. It is the last paper mill operating in the state's North Country.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“In reality, the lives of American workers, as well as those of the unemployed and the homeless, make up a critically important cornerstone of our country's story, past and present, and in that story, there is great honor.”<br>
<br>Louis, from Jamaica, has picked apples in the Winchester, Va., area for 25 years and plans to come back next year. The migrant life is difficult for school age children because they move often as their families follow the crops.

“In reality, the lives of American workers, as well as those of the unemployed and the homeless, make up a critically important cornerstone of our country's story, past and present, and in that story, there is great honor.”

Louis, from Jamaica, has picked apples in the Winchester, Va., area for 25 years and plans to come back next year. The migrant life is difficult for school age children because they move often as their families follow the crops.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

“Dale and Michael have made the telling of that story their life's work.”<br>
<br>Dale Maharidge, left, and Michael S. Williamson, on the road somewhere in New Mexico in 1983 documenting American workers for their first book, “Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass.”

“Dale and Michael have made the telling of that story their life's work.”

Dale Maharidge, left, and Michael S. Williamson, on the road somewhere in New Mexico in 1983 documenting American workers for their first book, “Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass.”

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“They present these men, women, and children in their full humanity.”<br>
<br>A girl who had been searching for diamonds with her parents, whose business had fallen on hard times, photographed at Crater of Diamonds State Park, Ark., 2009.

“They present these men, women, and children in their full humanity.”

A girl who had been searching for diamonds with her parents, whose business had fallen on hard times, photographed at Crater of Diamonds State Park, Ark., 2009.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“They give voice to their humor, frustration, rage, perseverance, and love.”<br>
<br>New timers, Western Pacific Railroad yard, Oroville, Calif.,1982.

“They give voice to their humor, frustration, rage, perseverance, and love.”

New timers, Western Pacific Railroad yard, Oroville, Calif.,1982.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“They invite us into these stories to understand and allow us to experience the hard times and the commonality of experience that can still be found just beneath the surface of the modern news environment.”<br>
<br>Marie, far right, had ended up homeless after her husband, Teddy, lost his job. She shared a squat with a young couple in an abandoned power plant in Sacramento in 1982. They were evicted by police the next day.

“They invite us into these stories to understand and allow us to experience the hard times and the commonality of experience that can still be found just beneath the surface of the modern news environment.”

Marie, far right, had ended up homeless after her husband, Teddy, lost his job. She shared a squat with a young couple in an abandoned power plant in Sacramento in 1982. They were evicted by police the next day.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

”In giving us back that feeling of universal connectedness, they create room for some optimism that we may still find our way back to higher ground as a country and as a people.”<br>
<br> Cody Hale, 8, feeds some cereal that the family just got from the food bank to little brother Sebastian Hale, 6. They live with their grandparents, Sudie and Bobby Grubb. Sudie works at Wendy's. They live in a trailer in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

”In giving us back that feeling of universal connectedness, they create room for some optimism that we may still find our way back to higher ground as a country and as a people.”

Cody Hale, 8, feeds some cereal that the family just got from the food bank to little brother Sebastian Hale, 6. They live with their grandparents, Sudie and Bobby Grubb. Sudie works at Wendy's. They live in a trailer in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

“As the folks whose voices sing off these pages will tell you, it's the only way.”<br>
<br>Hobos on a piggyback car of a southbound freight train rolling through the Western Pacific Railroad yard in Sacramento, 1982.

“As the folks whose voices sing off these pages will tell you, it's the only way.”

Hobos on a piggyback car of a southbound freight train rolling through the Western Pacific Railroad yard in Sacramento, 1982.

Michael Williamson / The Washington Post

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