Youngstown (song)
Encyclopedia
"Youngstown" is a song by Bruce Springsteen
from his 1995 album The Ghost of Tom Joad
. Although many of the songs on the album were performed by Springsteen solo, the lineup for the "Youngstown" includes Soozie Tyrell
on violin, Jim Hanson on bass, Gary Mallaber
on drums, co-producer Chuck Plotkin
on keyboards, and Marty Rifkin on pedal steel guitar. The song has also been covered by Blue Moon Rising and by Matthew Ryan.
, over several generations, from the discovery of iron ore nearby in 1803 through the decline of the steel industry in the area in the 1970s
. The lyric tells its story in a style reminiscent of Bob Dylan
's "With God on Our Side
", evoking American history through several wars. It tells of how in the Civil War
, Youngstown made the cannonballs that helped the Union prevail. Then the city built tanks and bombs to help win later wars, such as World War II
. Finally, the boys of Youngstown went to fight the Korean War
and the Vietnam War
. Despite the town's history, when it became uneconomical to keep the steel mill
s in Youngstown going, they were shut down, thus doing "what Hitler couldn't do," to the devastation of the community.
The song's story unfolds as the narrative of one family's history as factory-workers in Youngstown. The narrator of the song himself is a Vietnam War veteran (continuing Springsteen's fixation with that war, also evident in songs such as "Born in the U.S.A.
" and "Lost in the Flood
") and his father fought in World War II. Both also worked in the steel mills. The narrator had worked himself up to the job of scarfer, a difficult but low-paying job that entails torching the steel to remove imperfections. Although he describes the job as one "that would suit the devil well," it is enough to put food on the table, pay his debts and provide a sense of purpose. When the mill is shut down, he tells the owners that "Once I made you rich enough/Rich enough to forget my name." Finally, he prays that "the devil comes and takes me/To stand in the fiery furnace of hell." Towards the end of the song, the scope expands beyond Youngstown to other areas that were devastated by the decline of the steel industry, including the Monongahela Valley, Minnesota
's Mesabi iron range and Appalachia
.
The song is set to a sparse melody. Its simple chorus is:
The Jenny mentioned in the chorus is possibly a woman but more importantly is the nickname of the Jeanette Blast Furnace, owned by Youngstown Sheet and Tube
, which shut down in 1977. Its rusting hulk still stood along the Mahoning River
and was visible for miles, constituting with others like it what one newspaper writer described as "the remains of a lost civilization."
Springsteen was inspired to write "Youngstown" and "The New Timer
", another Ghost of Tom Joad song, after reading Dale Maharidge
's 1985 book Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass, illustrated by Michael Williamson. Journey to Nowhere chronicled the story of middle class Americans who lost their jobs and had become hobos riding freight trains like in the Great Depression
. The stories of dying steel towns inspired "Youngstown" and the stories of boxcar hobos inspired "New Timer". In an interview with BBC Radio
, Springsteen stated that his connection to this song was "probably through my own kids and my own job, in the sense that the thought of being told after 30 years or so, that what you're doing isn't useful anymore, or has no place, or that the world has changed and that's the way it is. And you're 50 and gotta find something else to do. That's almost impossible ... I don't know what I would do in that circumstance." With "Youngstown", he managed to trace the rise of America as an industrial power, and the subsequent breaking of its social contract. This contrast between the mythology of the American Dream
and the realities faced by its working-class citizens is among Springsteen's most familiar themes. Activist historian Howard Zinn
included the lyrics of the song in his 2004 book Voices from a People's History of the United States.
, author Nicholas Dawidoff
said that "Youngstown" was the best song on the album and was an example of "best of his songs [which] have all the tension and complexity of great short fiction." Not everyone was taken with the song; The Dallas Morning News
criticized its "ham-fisted factory/hell metaphor".
No singles were released from the album in the United States, but "Youngstown" was the song that Columbia Records
most pitched to album oriented rock radio stations. The effort met with little success; as one station program director remarked, "Yeah, that'll get everybody up and dancing."
The song was popular in Youngstown itself, getting frequent local radio airplay and generating brisk sales of The Ghost of Tom Joad. An editor at The Youngstown Vindicator said that town reaction split into three camps: "Some people are taking this as, 'Yea Youngstown! Finally somebody noticed!' Some people are taking it as a real vindication of the working man. And some people feel, 'Oh no, we thought we had all this behind us!"
Springsteen made a point of playing Youngstown's Stambaugh Auditorium
in January 1996 during the solo acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad Tour
, and tickets for the 2,600-seat venue were sold in record time. During the visit he was given the key to the city by Mayor Patrick Ungaro
. Springsteen introduced "Youngstown" at that show by saying, "This is about the men and women who lived in this town and who built this country. It's about [the people] who gave their sons and daughters to the wars that were fought ... and who were later declared expendable." He added that "You get into tricky territory when you write a song about someone's hometown. You don't want to get it wrong."
The audience, which included many who worked in the mills or had family members who did, was hushed during the performance and then gave Springsteen a standing ovation after its completion. Afterward, Springsteen was relieved that the performance had gone over well and changed his travel plans to stay an extra day and visit historic sites in the area.
Beyond that tour, "Youngstown" has been a prominent song in many of Springsteen's live concert performances. It was a featured song on the 1999–2000 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour
, starting a five-song sequence (that also included "Murder Inc.", "Badlands
", "Out in the Street
" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
") that anchored the middle of every show. Here it was heavily rearranged into a hard rock vehicle, with pounding drums from Max Weinberg
and a fiery guitar solo from Nils Lofgren
. In addition, Springsteen was illuminated from below by stage front red lighting. The New York Times
said the reworking "howled with desolation" and the Miami New Times
said that Lofgren's part almost stole the song.
One such performance from that tour was included on the Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Live in New York City
CD and DVD in 2001. Greg Kot
of Rolling Stone
said of it that "Nils Lofgren's six-string rave-up drops a bomb on the relatively sedate studio version."
"Youngstown" was a regular during the opening stretch of Springsteen's 2005 solo acoustic Devils & Dust Tour
, before being dropped from the setlist. It appeared a few times during the band's 2007–2008 Magic Tour
. Then for 2009's Working on a Dream Tour
, it was played more frequently, serving in a rotation spot with "The Ghost of Tom Joad" during those shows' song sequence devoted to the late-2000s recession. Both of those numbers delivered what Billboard
magazine termed, in the "Youngstown" case, "the night's killer Nils Lofgren solo".
A live performance from the Hard Rock Calling
show on that tour was included on the 2010 DVD London Calling: Live in Hyde Park
. Much of this arrangement is somewhat calmer than on the Reunion Tour, carried by Tyrell's violin and Charlie Giordano's accordion. The last two minutes are taken over by Lofgren's solo, which features several tempo changes and crescendos before culminating in the guitarist spinning in circles on the stage.
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
from his 1995 album The Ghost of Tom Joad
The Ghost of Tom Joad
The Ghost of Tom Joad is the eleventh studio album by Bruce Springsteen, released in 1995 . The album was recorded and mixed at Thrill Hill during the spring and summer of 1995. Musically and lyrically reminiscent of Springsteen's 1982 critically acclaimed album Nebraska, The Ghost of Tom Joad...
. Although many of the songs on the album were performed by Springsteen solo, the lineup for the "Youngstown" includes Soozie Tyrell
Soozie Tyrell
Soozie Tyrell, , formerly known as Soozie Kirschner, is an American violinist and vocalist, most known for her work with Bruce Springsteen in the E Street Band.-Biography:...
on violin, Jim Hanson on bass, Gary Mallaber
Gary Mallaber
Gary Mallaber is a Los Angeles session drummer, percussionist and singer. He got his start playing drums in a band from Buffalo, New York, known as Raven....
on drums, co-producer Chuck Plotkin
Chuck Plotkin
Chuck Plotkin is a recording engineer and producer, best known for his work with Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan.-Recording engineer:Plotkin has recorded, engineered, mastered and produced albums by Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, and many other artists, starting with The Floating House Band in 1972...
on keyboards, and Marty Rifkin on pedal steel guitar. The song has also been covered by Blue Moon Rising and by Matthew Ryan.
History and themes
The song tells the tale of the rise and fall of Youngstown, OhioYoungstown, Ohio
Youngstown is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Mahoning County; it also extends into Trumbull County. The municipality is situated on the Mahoning River, approximately southeast of Cleveland and northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...
, over several generations, from the discovery of iron ore nearby in 1803 through the decline of the steel industry in the area in the 1970s
Deindustrialization of Youngstown, Ohio
The deindustrialization of Youngstown, Ohio was the deindustrialization of the city of Youngstown, Ohio and surrounding areas, starting on September 19, 1977 and continuing into the mid 1980s...
. The lyric tells its story in a style reminiscent of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
's "With God on Our Side
With God on Our Side
"With God on Our Side" is a song by Bob Dylan, released as the third track on his 1964 album The Times They Are A-Changin. Dylan first performed the song during his debut at The Town Hall in New York City on April 12, 1963...
", evoking American history through several wars. It tells of how in the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Youngstown made the cannonballs that helped the Union prevail. Then the city built tanks and bombs to help win later wars, such as World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Finally, the boys of Youngstown went to fight the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
. Despite the town's history, when it became uneconomical to keep the steel mill
Steel mill
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or...
s in Youngstown going, they were shut down, thus doing "what Hitler couldn't do," to the devastation of the community.
The song's story unfolds as the narrative of one family's history as factory-workers in Youngstown. The narrator of the song himself is a Vietnam War veteran (continuing Springsteen's fixation with that war, also evident in songs such as "Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A. (song)
"Born in the U.S.A." is a 1984 song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen. Taken from the album of the same name, it is one of his best-known singles. Rolling Stone ranked the song 275th on their list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". In 2001, the RIAA's Songs of the Century placed...
" and "Lost in the Flood
Lost in the Flood
"Lost in the Flood" is a song by Bruce Springsteen. It was released on his debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. in 1973.- Music and themes :...
") and his father fought in World War II. Both also worked in the steel mills. The narrator had worked himself up to the job of scarfer, a difficult but low-paying job that entails torching the steel to remove imperfections. Although he describes the job as one "that would suit the devil well," it is enough to put food on the table, pay his debts and provide a sense of purpose. When the mill is shut down, he tells the owners that "Once I made you rich enough/Rich enough to forget my name." Finally, he prays that "the devil comes and takes me/To stand in the fiery furnace of hell." Towards the end of the song, the scope expands beyond Youngstown to other areas that were devastated by the decline of the steel industry, including the Monongahela Valley, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
's Mesabi iron range and Appalachia
Appalachia
Appalachia is a term used to describe a cultural region in the eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York state to northern Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Canada to Cheaha Mountain in the U.S...
.
The song is set to a sparse melody. Its simple chorus is:
- Here in Youngstown
- Here in Youngstown
- My sweet Jenny, I'm sinkin' down
- Here darlin' in Youngstown
The Jenny mentioned in the chorus is possibly a woman but more importantly is the nickname of the Jeanette Blast Furnace, owned by Youngstown Sheet and Tube
Youngstown Sheet and Tube
The Youngstown Iron Sheet and Tube Company, based in Youngstown, Ohio, was one of the largest steel manufacturers in the world. Officially, the company was created on November 23, 1900, when Articles of Incorporation of the Youngstown Iron Sheet and Tube Company were filed with the Ohio Secretary...
, which shut down in 1977. Its rusting hulk still stood along the Mahoning River
Mahoning River
The Mahoning River is a river located in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. It joins the Shenango River to form the Beaver River and is part of the Ohio River watershed.- Physical properties :...
and was visible for miles, constituting with others like it what one newspaper writer described as "the remains of a lost civilization."
Springsteen was inspired to write "Youngstown" and "The New Timer
The New Timer
"New Timer" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from his 1995 album The Ghost of Tom Joad. Springsteen performs the song solo on the album, with only guitar accompaniment....
", another Ghost of Tom Joad song, after reading Dale Maharidge
Dale Maharidge
Dale Maharidge is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist best known for his collaborations with photographer Michael Williamson....
's 1985 book Journey to Nowhere: The Saga of the New Underclass, illustrated by Michael Williamson. Journey to Nowhere chronicled the story of middle class Americans who lost their jobs and had become hobos riding freight trains like in the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. The stories of dying steel towns inspired "Youngstown" and the stories of boxcar hobos inspired "New Timer". In an interview with BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
, Springsteen stated that his connection to this song was "probably through my own kids and my own job, in the sense that the thought of being told after 30 years or so, that what you're doing isn't useful anymore, or has no place, or that the world has changed and that's the way it is. And you're 50 and gotta find something else to do. That's almost impossible ... I don't know what I would do in that circumstance." With "Youngstown", he managed to trace the rise of America as an industrial power, and the subsequent breaking of its social contract. This contrast between the mythology of the American Dream
American Dream
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States in which freedom includes a promise of the possibility of prosperity and success. In the definition of the American Dream by James Truslow Adams in 1931, "life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each...
and the realities faced by its working-class citizens is among Springsteen's most familiar themes. Activist historian Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn was an American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist. Before and during his tenure as a political science professor at Boston University from 1964-88 he wrote more than 20 books, which included his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United...
included the lyrics of the song in his 2004 book Voices from a People's History of the United States.
Reception
Writing for The New York Times MagazineThe New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
, author Nicholas Dawidoff
Nicholas Dawidoff
Nicholas Dawidoff is an American writer.Dawidoff was born in New York City, and grew up in New Haven, Connecticut with his mother and sister....
said that "Youngstown" was the best song on the album and was an example of "best of his songs [which] have all the tension and complexity of great short fiction." Not everyone was taken with the song; The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
criticized its "ham-fisted factory/hell metaphor".
No singles were released from the album in the United States, but "Youngstown" was the song that Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
most pitched to album oriented rock radio stations. The effort met with little success; as one station program director remarked, "Yeah, that'll get everybody up and dancing."
The song was popular in Youngstown itself, getting frequent local radio airplay and generating brisk sales of The Ghost of Tom Joad. An editor at The Youngstown Vindicator said that town reaction split into three camps: "Some people are taking this as, 'Yea Youngstown! Finally somebody noticed!' Some people are taking it as a real vindication of the working man. And some people feel, 'Oh no, we thought we had all this behind us!"
Springsteen made a point of playing Youngstown's Stambaugh Auditorium
Stambaugh Auditorium
Stambaugh Auditorium is a public auditorium located in Youngstown, Ohio in the United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984....
in January 1996 during the solo acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad Tour
Ghost of Tom Joad Tour
The Ghost of Tom Joad Tour was a lengthy, worldwide concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen performing alone on stage in small halls and theatres, that ran off and on from late 1995 through the middle of 1997. It followed the release of his 1995 album The Ghost of Tom Joad.-Itinerary:The tour...
, and tickets for the 2,600-seat venue were sold in record time. During the visit he was given the key to the city by Mayor Patrick Ungaro
Patrick Ungaro
Patrick J. Ungaro is an Ohio politician, most noted for his long tenure as mayor of the industrial city of Youngstown, having served in the position from 1984-1997. He is a member of the Democratic Party...
. Springsteen introduced "Youngstown" at that show by saying, "This is about the men and women who lived in this town and who built this country. It's about [the people] who gave their sons and daughters to the wars that were fought ... and who were later declared expendable." He added that "You get into tricky territory when you write a song about someone's hometown. You don't want to get it wrong."
The audience, which included many who worked in the mills or had family members who did, was hushed during the performance and then gave Springsteen a standing ovation after its completion. Afterward, Springsteen was relieved that the performance had gone over well and changed his travel plans to stay an extra day and visit historic sites in the area.
Live performances
The reception to the Youngstown performance was not unique; whenever Springsteen played the song in the Midwest during the Ghost of Tom Joad Tour, audiences kept quite still.Beyond that tour, "Youngstown" has been a prominent song in many of Springsteen's live concert performances. It was a featured song on the 1999–2000 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour
The Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour was a lengthy, top-grossing concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band that took place over 1999 and 2000....
, starting a five-song sequence (that also included "Murder Inc.", "Badlands
Badlands (Bruce Springsteen song)
"Badlands" was the leadoff track on Bruce Springsteen's fourth studio album Darkness on the Edge of Town, and its second single.- Themes :The song tells the story of a man down on his luck and angry at the world, who wants a better lot in life....
", "Out in the Street
Out in the Street
"Out in the Street" is a song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band from the 1980 album The River. It was recorded at The Power Station in New York between March and May 1980, as one of the last songs recorded for the album...
" and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
"Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" is the second song on Bruce Springsteen's breakthrough album Born to Run.-Content:The song loosely tells the story of the formation of the E Street Band. However, when asked, most Springsteen fans cannot answer the question, "What is a Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out?" The...
") that anchored the middle of every show. Here it was heavily rearranged into a hard rock vehicle, with pounding drums from Max Weinberg
Max Weinberg
Max Weinberg is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.Weinberg grew up in suburban New Jersey...
and a fiery guitar solo from Nils Lofgren
Nils Lofgren
Nils Hilmer Lofgren is an American rock music recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist...
. In addition, Springsteen was illuminated from below by stage front red lighting. The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
said the reworking "howled with desolation" and the Miami New Times
Miami New Times
The Miami New Times is a free weekly newspaper published in Miami and distributed every Thursday. It primarily serves the Miami area and is headquartered near Miami's Design District.-Overview:...
said that Lofgren's part almost stole the song.
One such performance from that tour was included on the Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band: Live in New York City
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Live In New York City
Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Live In New York City is the name of a concert film done by HBO, featuring the first ever major televised Bruce Springsteen concert...
CD and DVD in 2001. Greg Kot
Greg Kot
Greg Kot is an American writer and journalist. Since 1990, Kot has been the music critic at the Chicago Tribune, where he has covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and business issues...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
said of it that "Nils Lofgren's six-string rave-up drops a bomb on the relatively sedate studio version."
"Youngstown" was a regular during the opening stretch of Springsteen's 2005 solo acoustic Devils & Dust Tour
Devils & Dust Tour
The Devils & Dust Tour was a 2005 concert tour featuring Bruce Springsteen performing alone on stage on a variety of instruments. It followed the release of his 2005 album Devils & Dust.-Approach:...
, before being dropped from the setlist. It appeared a few times during the band's 2007–2008 Magic Tour
Magic Tour (Bruce Springsteen)
The Magic Tour was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's 2007–2008 concert tour of North America and Western Europe.The tour began October 2, 2007, in Hartford, Connecticut, and concluded August 30, 2008 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin...
. Then for 2009's Working on a Dream Tour
Working on a Dream Tour
The Working on a Dream Tour was a concert tour by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, which began in April 2009 and ended in November 2009...
, it was played more frequently, serving in a rotation spot with "The Ghost of Tom Joad" during those shows' song sequence devoted to the late-2000s recession. Both of those numbers delivered what Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
magazine termed, in the "Youngstown" case, "the night's killer Nils Lofgren solo".
A live performance from the Hard Rock Calling
Hard Rock Calling
Hard Rock Calling is an annual music festival held in Hyde Park, London, which first took place on Saturday July 1 and Sunday July 2, 2006. The music played is primarily rock music, and various performers, including Bon Jovi, The Who, Aerosmith, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen have played at the...
show on that tour was included on the 2010 DVD London Calling: Live in Hyde Park
London Calling: Live in Hyde Park
London Calling: Live in Hyde Park is a full concert video of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band in their Working on a Dream Tour performance of June 28, 2009, at the Hard Rock Calling music festival in Hyde Park, London. It was released a year later, on Blu-ray and DVD.The work takes it name...
. Much of this arrangement is somewhat calmer than on the Reunion Tour, carried by Tyrell's violin and Charlie Giordano's accordion. The last two minutes are taken over by Lofgren's solo, which features several tempo changes and crescendos before culminating in the guitarist spinning in circles on the stage.
External links
- Lyrics, at official Springsteen website
- Youngstown - Lyrics (several versions) and detailed info