Poverty Playlist: “The River” by Bruce Springsteen

In the Boss’s classic working man’s song, he laments:

I got a job working construction for the Johnstown company,
But lately there ain’t been much work on account of the economy

Workers across the country can surely relate, especially in the rural workforce.  (Check out my entry on the “mancession” a few weeks ago.)

Where I grew up, in rural West Virginia, the unemployment rate is currently at 9.2 percent. It would probably be higher if we took into account all the people who have become discouraged and stopped looking for work altogether. Many of the lost jobs are probably tied to manufacturing and construction industries.

In the song, the narrator’s longing for the past is palpable. The tough times are taking a toll on his self esteem and his marriage to his highschool sweetheart. We can see this reflected today in the reports that anti-depresant useage is on the rise.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 3rd, 2009 at 2:35 pm and is filed under poverty playlist. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.