Bruce Springsteen has released a video for 'Death to My Hometown,' from his new album 'Wrecking Ball.' The clip compiles footage from rehearsal and his recent concerts at the Apollo Theater, Atlanta and SXSW. The audio is from a live take and features Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine on guitar.

'Death to My Hometown' is one of the songs that has greatly benefited from being performed nightly by the E Street Band. While the recorded version suffers from stilted production, the song roars to life onstage with a wall of horns and electric guitars. The original's Irish influences are still there, particularly in Springsteen's voice, but they've been de-emphasized in concert.

It also helps that 'Death to My Hometown' is performed in the key of F instead of the recorded version's Eb. The song has been performed in the fourth or fifth slot every night of the tour so far.

The song, which references Springsteen's 1985 hit, 'My Hometown,' in the title, is about the destruction of small-town America in recent years by the bankers who preyed upon hard-working Americans, comparing the damage to a bloodless war.

In the dramatic coda, Springsteen calls for those responsible to be held accountable for their actions. "The greedy thieves who came around / And ate the flesh of everything they found / Whose crimes have gone unpunished now / Who walk the streets as free men now / They brought death to our hometown."

Bruce Springsteen also announced on Friday that the 'Wrecking Ball' tour will, as expected, continue following the conclusion of its European leg. Springsteen announced ten stadium dates in the United States and Canada in August and September.

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Watch Bruce Springsteen's 'Death to My Hometown' Video

 

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