This folk number is the title track of Bruce Springsteen's 17th studio album. The long player was produced by roots-rock vet Ron Aniello along with executive producer Jon Landau and The Boss himself. Springsteen explained at an unveiling of the record in Paris that the title reflects the fact that, "there has been a flat destruction of our values over the last 30 years leading to the inequality we have now. Wrecking Ball is a metaphor for what has occurred."

The song is also an ode to hard work, blue-collar dreams, victories won and lost and Springsteen's home state. He sings: "I was raised out of steel here in the swamps of Jersey, some misty years ago, through the mud and the beer, and the blood and the cheers, I've seen champions come and go."

Springsteen performed an early version of the song for the first time in 2009 when he played a series of shows that marked the last concerts at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, before it was torn down. He wrote the tune partly in response to the closing of the stadium.

Wrecking Ball became Springsteen's 10th chart-topping album when it debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200. This meant The Boss became only the fourth act to have scored 10 or more leaders on the list. The other three being the Beatles (19), Jay-Z (12) and Elvis Presley (10).

Wrecking Ball's ascent to the peak position also meant that Springsteen became the first male artist to tally a #1 album in four straight decades. The honor for the longest streak ever belongs to Barbra Streisand, who clocked a Billboard 200 chart-topper in five straight decades, starting with People in 1964.