Since a lot of people on Twitter seem to think that my name is Tom, I thought I would provide a little info on my handle. The reference is to a Bruce Springsteen song which was inspired by a character in John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. It was covered by Rage Against the Machine, which was where I first heard it many years ago and it had an impact on me, not because it changed my politics so much as it suggested to me that there were other people out there who were pissed off like I was and gave me a sense of solidarity for the first time.
Bruce Springsteen Version:
Rage Against the Machine Version:
Lyrics:
Man walks along the railroad tracks
He's goin' someplace, and there's no turnin' back
The highway patrol chopper comin' up over the ridge
Man sleeps by a campfire under the bridge
The shelter line stretchin' around the corner
Welcome to the New World Order
Families sleepin' in their cars out in the Southwest
No job, no home, no peace, no rest
No rest!
The highway is alive tonight
Nobody's foolin' nobody as to where it goes
I'm sitting down here in the campfire light
Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad
He pulls his prayer book out of his sleepin' bag
The Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
He's waitin' for the time when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass
With a one way ticket to the promised land
With a hole in your belly and a gun in your hand
Searching for a pillow of solid rock
Bathin' in the city's aquaduct
The highway is alive tonight
Nobody's foolin' nobody as to where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
With the Ghost of old Tom Joad
Now Tom said, "Ma, wherever you seen a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Wherever there's a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me Ma, I'll be there
Wherever somebody's strugglin' for a place to stand
For a decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes, Ma, you'll see me"
You'll see me (x8)
The highway is alive tonight
Nobody's foolin' nobody as to where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of Tom Joad
