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An Entity of Type : wsb:Song, within Data Space : wasabi.inria.fr associated with source document(s)

AttributesValues
type
sameAs
has title
  • Highway Patrolman
has language
  • eng
Subject
  • Bruce Springsteen songs
  • Songs written by Bruce Springsteen
  • 1982 songs
abstract
  • %22Highway Patrolman%22 is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen and was first released as the fifth track on his 1982 album Nebraska.The song tells the story of Joe Roberts, the highway patrolman of the title from whose viewpoint the song is written – and his brother, Franky, and is set in the 1960s. Franky is portrayed as unruly and frequently causing and encountering trouble, while Joe is the more mature, sensible (and likely elder) brother who always comes to his aid.In 1965, Franky joins the United States Army (and presumably is sent to Vietnam, though this is not made explicit), while Joe takes a farm deferment and marries a girl called Maria (who, it is implied, had attracted the attentions of both brothers). Within three years however, falling wheat prices cause Joe to leave the farm and take a job as a highway patrolman. Meanwhile, in 1968, Franky leaves the army and returns home. One night, Joe receives a call and visits a bar where a boy has been attacked, with witnesses identifying his attacker as Franky, who has fled. Joe chases Franky through rural Michigan until they reach - and Franky crosses - the Canadian border, the implication being that Joe has allowed him to escape; as the lyrics suggest, %22when it's your brother, sometimes you look the other way%22 and %22I pulled over the side of the highway and watched his tail lights disappear.%22Like the rest of the album, the song was recorded on Springsteen's four-track cassette recorder with the intention of it being performed for the album with his full band; however, it was felt that the demo version of the song was superior to the eventual 'band cut' and was released on the album in its original form. It features the same stark, bleak atmosphere as the remainder of its parent album, and in terms of instrumentation, contains simply vocals, (very quiet) harmonica and acoustic guitar.Springsteen featured the song only once on the %22American Land%22 leg of his critically acclaimed tour with the Seeger Sessions band, and the version is featured on the 2007 release Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band: Live in Dublin. This version was praised by Rolling Stone critic Andy Greene as %22fantastic, maybe definitive%22 in its incarnation as a country weeper4.
schema:datePublished
homepage
musicbrainz
Musicbrainz GUID
  • 82002f3e-b0ae-4d69-bbd4-92192d331b79
mo:performer
universally unique identifier
  • 5714dec825ac0d8aee3c3367
wikipedia
bpm
mo:duration
isrc
  • USSM10701587
producer
  • Bruce Springsteen
track number
schema:album
wsb:allMusic_page
wsb:amazon_page
wsb:deezer_artist_id
  • 13960
wsb:deezer_page
wsb:deezer_song_id
  • 2170636
wsb:explicit_lyrics_count
wsb:gain
wsb:has_explicit_lyrics
wsb:iTunes_page
wsb:language_detected
  • english
wsb:rank
wsb:record_label
  • Columbia Records
wsb:recording_description
  • January, 1982
wsb:title_without_accent
  • Highway Patrolman
wsb:arousal
wsb:has_emotion_tags
wsb:has_social_tags
wsb:lastFm_song_id
  • TRQBZSQ128F42782DC
wsb:valence
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