Today’s Wrecking Ball preview is “Shackled And Drawn,” stream provided by Rolling Stone magazine.
While the references to the have and the have-nots have so far been fairly elliptical (especially on “We Take Care Of Our Own”), this song draws up a much starker contrast with a man “trudging through the dark in a world gone wrong” and, more pointedly: “up on banker’s hill the party’s going strong/down here below we’re shackled and drawn.”
The music again employs a light-against-dark vision, with the story of the oppressed framed by an insistent beat, guitars, and a sing-song melody running through the ecstatic chorus. As the track ends, the music dissolves to the voice of a female preacher, closing it all out with “I want everybody to stand up and be counted tonight!”
Powerful stuff.
Next up: Jack Of All Trades
- How Eric Clapton’s ‘Me and Mr. Johnson’ Made the Case for British Blues - March 20, 2024
- Why Todd Rundgren’s ‘Back to the Bars’ Remains So Powerful - December 13, 2023
- Reevaluating Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle’ - September 11, 2023
