Lesson plan
Downbound Train
"Downbound Train" is a song that appears on the 1984 Bruce Springsteen album Born in the U.S.A. The song is a lament to a lost spouse, and takes on a melancholy tone. Author Christopher Sandford described the song as beginning "like a Keith Richards' riff" that ultimately moves to "one of those great country busted-heart lines, 'Now I work down at the car wash/where all it ever does is rain.'" The song was recorded on May 6, 1982 at the Power Station at the end of the "Electric Nebraska" sessions. Like several other Born in the U.S.A. songs, including "Working on the Highway" and the title track, a solo acoustic version of "Downbound Train" was originally recorded on the demo that eventually became the Nebraska album. "Downbound Train" is one of the few tracks that was successfully recorded at the "Electric Nebraska" sessions. Though it was not one of the seven singles released from the album, the song nevertheless gained some album-oriented rock radio airplay and was featured fairly regularly on the Born in the U.S.A. Tour. It has been performed sporadically in tours since. Overall, the song has been played in concert about 130 times through 2008.
Article summary
"Downbound Train" is a song that appears on the 1984 Bruce Springsteen album Born in the U.S.A. The song is a lament to a lost spouse, and takes on a melancholy tone. Author Christopher Sandford described the song as beginning "like a Keith Richards' riff" that ultimately moves to "one of those great country busted-heart lines, 'Now I work down at the car wash/where all it ever does is rain.'" The song was recorded on May 6, 1982 at the Power Station at the end of the "Electric Nebraska" sessions. Like several other Born in the U.S.A. songs, including "Working on the Highway" and the title track, a solo acoustic version of "Downbound Train" was originally recorded on the demo that eventually became the Nebraska album. "Downbound Train" is one of the few tracks that was successfully recorded at the "Electric Nebraska" sessions. Though it was not one of the seven singles released from the album, the song nevertheless gained some album-oriented rock radio airplay and was featured fairly regularly on the Born in the U.S.A. Tour. It has been performed sporadically in tours since. Overall, the song has been played in concert about 130 times through 2008.
Key claims
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
No sources recorded.
Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.