Against a backdrop of a slow waltz toward disappointment and death comes a familiar story — that of a man trying to scratch out a living any way he can. The emotion is amplified with great subtlety by some swelling horns, which fade away for the last verse to reveal a lone cello as Bruce sings:
So you use what you’ve got/And you learn to make do/You take the old/You make it new/If I had me a gun/I’d find the bastards and shoot ’em on sight/I’m a jack of all trades/We’ll be alright
Those last two statements are repeated as the horns make a ghostly return, leading into a blistering Tom Morello guitar solo takes the whole thing over the top.
“Jack Of All Trades” is streaming all day today over at Spin.com.
Next up: Death To My Hometown
Mark Saleski is a writer and music obsessive based out of the woods of central New Hampshire. A past contributor to Jazz.com, Blogcritics.org and Salon, he originated several of our weekly features including the Friday Morning Listen, (Cross the) Heartland, WTF! Wednesday, and Sparks Fly on E Street. Follow him on Twitter: @msaleski. Contact Something Else! at [email protected].
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