8 Progressive Bruce Springsteen lyrics

By Jo Piazza / current.com / @jopiazza

Bruce Springsteen slammed banks for being "greedy thieves" and "robber barons" during a concert in Berlin on Wednesday night.

The show was part of the "Wrecking Ball" tour which began May 13 in Spain and will run for 2 and 1/2 months through 15 countries. 

"In America, a lot of people have lost their jobs," The Boss declared onstage in Berlin before introducing his song, "Jack of All Trades," an attack on bankers with the lyrics:  "The banker man grows fat, working man grows thin."

Later in the show he sang "Death to My Hometown," which describes the "greedy thieves and robber barons" who "destroyed our families, factories and they took our homes."

Springsteen has long been a champion of populist and progressive causes, allowing his political and social views to bleed into his music.

We love him all the more for it, which is why we have assembled our list of eight powerful Springsteen song lyrics to provide us a  soundtrack for this election season. But it doesn't end here. Which Springsteen lyrics resonate with your political ideas? We want to know. Send us your thoughts on Twitter or Facebook with the hash tag #ProgressiveBoss. 

1. "We Take Care of Our Own" ("Wrecking Ball" 2012)

the road of good intentions has gone dry as bone / we take care of our own / we take care of our own / wherever this flag's flown / we take care of our own

2. "Promised Land" ("Darkness on the Edge of Town" 1978)

the dogs on Main Street howl cause they understand / if I could take one moment in my hands / mister I ain't a boy no I'm a man/ and I believe in a promised land

3. "Darkness on the Edge of Town" ("Darkness on the Edge of Town", 1978)

some folks are born into a good life / other folks get it anyway, anyhow / I lost my money and I lost my wife / them things don't seem to matter much to me now / tonight I'll be on that hill 'cause I can't stop / I'll be on that hill with everything I got / lives on the line where dreams are found and lost / I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost / for wanting things that can only be found / in the darkness on the edge of town

4. "Born in the U.S.A." ("Born in the USA" 1984)

come back home to the refinery / hiring man said son if it was up to me / went down to see my v.a. man / he said son, don't you understand / I had a brother at Khe Sahn / fighting off the Viet Cong / they're still there, he's all gone

5. "Streets of Philadelphia" ("Philadelphia" 1994)

the night has fallen / I'm lyin awake / I can feel myself fading away / so receive me brother with your faithless kiss / or will we leave each other alone like this / on the streets of Philadelphia

6. "Factory" ("Darkness on the Edge of Town" 1978)

end of the day, factory whistle cries / man walk through these gates with death in their eyes / and you better believe, boy / somebody's gonna get hurt tonight / it's the working, the working, just the working life

7. "Youngstown" ("The Ghost of Tom Joad" 1995)

from the Monongahela valley to the Mesabi iron range / to the coal mines of Appalachia / the story's always the same / seven hundred tons of metal a day / now sir you tell me the world's changed / once I made you rich enough / rich enough to forget my name

8. "The New Timer" ("The Ghost of Tom Joad" 1995)

I picked peaches from the Marysville trees / they bunked us in the farm like animals / me and a hundred other just like me

(Photo from Getty Images)