Bruce Springsteen - The Ghost of Tom Joad

This is my favorite Springsteen album.

Tom Joad was the protagonist in John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath".

The third verse of the song quotes Tom Joad, "I'll be all around in the dark - I'll be everywhere. Wherever you can look - wherever there's a fight, so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there. I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad. I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry and they know supper's ready, and when the people are eatin' the stuff they raise and livin' in the houses they build - I'll be there, too."

At the time of publication, Steinbeck's novel was publicly banned and burned. Part of its impact stemmed from its passionate depiction of the plight of the poor. However, although Steinbeck was accused of exaggeration of the migrant camp conditions to make a political point, in fact he had done the opposite, underplaying the conditions that he well knew were worse than the novel describes because he felt exact description would have gotten in the way of his story.

To me, the novel details the state of the Nation before the New Deal and the use of government for the improvement of everyday American citizens.