Think about it...

Lyrics for Bruce Springsteen's "Ghost of Tom Joad", based on the character from Steinbeck's immortal "Grapes of Wrath"...

Men walkin' 'long the railroad tracks
Goin' someplace there's no goin' back
Highway patrol choppers comin' up over the ridge

Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretchin' 'round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleepin' in their cars in the Southwest
No home no job no peace no rest

The highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad

He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag
Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
Waitin' for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box 'neath the underpass
Got a one-way ticket to the promised land
You got a hole in your belly and gun in your handSleeping on a pillow of solid rock
Bathin' in the city aqueduct

The highway is alive tonight
Where it's headed everybody knows
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad

Now Tom said "Mom, wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight 'gainst the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me Mom I'll be there
Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand
Or decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me."

Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad

The second to last stanza always gets me. That part is amazing to read in the book, and it is amazing to hear in the song. There are too many people who desperately need a voice these days and either don't have one or if they do it gets drowned out in the useless noise of pop culture and political punditry. This song inspires me to seek out these voices, listen to them, and chime in to make sure they are heard. The character Tom Joad represents the fight, the struggle for justice. Tom Joad is my hero. If I am involved in that struggle, I am Tom Joad. If you are involved in that struggle, you are Tom Joad. We are Tom Joad. "Look in their eyes, Ma..."