We Take Care of Our Own

The song is an up-tempo rocker which resembles the sound of the younger bands Springsteen has recently taken under his wing, such as Arcade Fire and The Gaslight Anthem.

The lyrics express Springsteen's frustration that—after several years of economic hard times—people are less willing to help each other. The song begins:{{cite web|title=Wrecking Ball|last=Fricke|first=David|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/wrecking-ball-205688/|website=rollingstone.com|date=March 6, 2012|access-date=November 8, 2020}}

:I've been stumblin' on good hearts turned to stone

:The road of good intentions has gone dry as a bone.

The narrator asks where he can find merciful hearts or work to set his hands and soul free and makes references to Hurricane Katrina. However, the refrain strikes a more optimistic (or ironic depending on listener interpretation) note that "Wherever this flag is flown/We take care of our own."{{cite news|title=We Take Care of Our Own: Will it be deja vu for Bruce Springsteen?|url=https://calgaryherald.com/entertainment/we-take-care-of-our-own-will-it-be-deja-vu-for-bruce-springsteen|newspaper=Calgary Herald|author=Volmers, E.|date=January 20, 2012|access-date=January 27, 2012}}

NPR's Ann Powers describes the song as "a bitter anthem" and states that on this song, as with "Born in the U.S.A.," "Glory Days", and 2008's "Girls in Their Summer Clothes," "Springsteen brings out big emotions and then demands we drop the delusions that often accompany them."{{cite web|title='We Take Care Of Our Own': Springsteen's New Wave Of Social Protest|author=Powers, A.|website=NPR|date=19 January 2012|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/01/19/145454546/we-take-care-of-our-own-springsteens-new-wave-of-social-protest|access-date=2012-01-27}} The New York Times printed a letter from a reader who said that the song rebukes the US government inaction regarding Hurricane Katrina disaster relief in New Orleans; that the song's message "is not that Americans take care of one another, but that we should—and don't."{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/05/opinion/letters/bruce-springsteen-politics.html |title=Misreading a Bruce Springsteen Song |last=Heffernan |first=Andrew |date=September 5, 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=April 28, 2021}}

Springsteen was spotted in New Jersey on January 13, 2012, filming what was believed to be a new music video. On January 19, 2012, the date the single was released, Springsteen's official website released a music video for the song containing various black and white images of Springsteen interspersed with text of the song's lyrics.

On February 10, 2012, a second official music video premiered, this time featuring Bruce performing in abandoned buildings and on rooftops in an urban setting. Various images of working class Americans are shown as lyrics flash by. As Springsteen sings the song's emotional resolution ("Wherever this flag is flown/We take care of our own"), the image transforms from black and white to color, climaxing as Springsteen joins a crowd of everyday Americans walking together in daylight, in unison.

The video was filmed in and around Asbury Park, including the roof of the Savoy Theatre and inside of Frank's Deli.{{Cite web|url=http://thebplot.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/springsteen-takes-care-of-his-own-franks-deli-featured-in-new-video/|title = What You Don't Know About the Making of Bruce Springsteen's "Our Own" Video @ Frank's Deli in Asbury Park|date = 16 February 2012}}

This song was played throughout Barack Obama's 2012 presidential campaign and after his victory speech at his headquarters in Chicago. Sales of the song rose 409% following Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention.{{cite web|title=Bruce Springsteen Gets Obama Bump, Song Sales Rise 409%|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/475140/bruce-springsteen-gets-obama-bump-song-sales-rise-409|website=billboard.com|last=Caulfield|first=Keith|date=September 12, 2012|access-date=November 8, 2020}}

The song was played at Joe Biden's victory speech after he had won the 2020 presidential election.{{cite web|title=Joe Biden's victory speech walkout song explained|url=https://www.thelist.com/274941/joe-bidens-victory-speech-walkout-song-explained/|last=Scinto|first=Maria|date=November 7, 2020|access-date=November 8, 2020}}

• Bruce Springsteen – lead vocal, guitars, banjo, piano, organ, drums, percussion, loops
• Patti Scialfa – backing vocals
• Ron Aniello – guitar, bass, keyboards, piano, drums, loops
• Lisa Lowell – backing vocals
• Soozie Tyrell – violin, backing vocals
• New York String Section{{cite web |url=http://www.bosstimeradio.com/blog/2012/01/we-take-care-of-our-own-single-credits/ |title='We Take Care Of Our Own' Single Credits {{!}} Boss Time Radio |website=www.bosstimeradio.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124114235/http://www.bosstimeradio.com/blog/2012/01/we-take-care-of-our-own-single-credits |archive-date=2012-01-24}}
• Rob Mathes – orchestration
• Sandy Park – string contractor
• Lisa Kim – concertmaster
• Myumju Lee – violin
• Ann Lehmaan – violin
• Lizz Lim – violin
• Johanna Marher – violin
• Annaliesa Place – violin
• Fiona Simon – violin
• Sharon Yamada – violin
• Jung Sun Yu – violin
• Karen Dreyfus – viola
• Daniel Panner – viola
• Robert Rinehart – viola
• Mina Smith – cello
• Alan Stepansky – cello

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120510105145/http://brucespringsteen.net/albums/wrecking-ball Brucespringsteen.net]

{{Bruce Springsteen songs}}

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Category:2012 songs

Category:Bruce Springsteen songs

Category:Songs written by Bruce Springsteen

Category:Columbia Records singles

Category:2012 singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Ron Aniello

Category:Song recordings produced by Bruce Springsteen

Category:Presidential campaign songs