This Is Your Sword

Album: High Hopes (2014)
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Songfacts®:

  • In the early 2010s, Springsteen said he was working on a gospel album before scrapping it for the more political Wrecking Ball. "We Take Care of Our Own," "Shackled and Drawn" and "Rocky Ground" were all songs on his 2012 LP that probably originated from his aborted project. This Celtic-tinged ballad, which finds Springsteen promising "days of miracle" and "the power of love revealed" most likely came from the same sessions.
  • This is the only track on which Max Weinberg does not play drums; instead, that role was filled by Josh Freese, who was the stickman for Nine Inch Nails from late 2005 until late 2008 and A Perfect Circle from 1999 to 2012.

    Producer Ron Aniello told Rolling Stone why Freese ended up this track. "He (Springsteen) gave me demos and I was trying to get them into shape," Aniello explained. "He was on the road and I was in Los Angeles. Max was busy on the tour, so I went through and brought Josh in to play drums. Bruce and I play drums all the time on demos just to see what it sounds like without a drum machine. That's how Josh wound up on that song. Max pretty much played everything else."

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