The best music often happens at the crossroads, at the “dangerous edge of things.” America, the most immigrant of nations, is particularly lucky therefore to be situated at a musical crossroads through which travelers have passed from every corner of the globe. Robert Johnston, the renowned American blues player from the 1930s made music that was so astonishing, the legend was he had gone to a crossroads at midnight and sold his soul to the devil. Today if we chance upon the American musical crossroads at midnight, the unlikely figure lurking mischievously in the darkness is Bruce Springsteen, the eponymous “future of rock ’n roll.” Mr. Springsteen has just taken a rather unexpected turn in the road and been reborn as a folk musician, recently releasing the album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions and completing a live tour of the music across Europe and America.

According to Shelley, “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world,” and we can extend this description sometimes to musicians as well. During the Civil Rights era, folk music made an important contribution to the mood of change that was sweeping the country. At that time when Bob Dylan sang lines like “How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?” the raw elemental power of music to reach the heart and mind in one elegant phrase was readily apparent. This fact that folk music is unafraid of tackling issues of political relevance undoubtedly appeals to Springsteen, and therefore perhaps makes this flirtation with folk music appear more plausible. If you listen to the lyrics, Springsteen’s most famous song “Born in the USA” is actually all about Vietnam. Bruce remains outspoken and engaged in current events, for example a song on his concert setlist has been “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live.” He has added some verses to this song, dating from the Depression, which comment on the handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

The musician Peter Seeger played a critical role in the blossoming 1960s New York folk music scene, reviving and popularizing some classics including the song “We Shall Overcome.” In 1997 Bruce Springsteen recorded a version of one of Peter Seeger’s songs for a tribute album, and his introduction to Seeger’s work provided the genesis of this new recording.

This glorious circus of an album provides many delights. Springsteen is a magnificent singer, and his voice has the perfect character for these folk songs—it isn’t smooth, but has a rumpled, flinty charm. It is the voice of someone who has lived life at the deep end. If you are singing about the harsh realities of the world, the voice’s imperfections perfect the music. The CD comes with a short DVD on the making of the album. In it, as the musicians are sitting around at the recording session, the host Springsteen offers beers, informing the vocalists they need a “wild sound, a beer-drunk, whiskey-drinking sound.” At this point any remaining skepticism vanishes. The man in charge knows exactly what he is doing. Folk music frequently suffers from an uncool reputation for being boring, or lacking passion. For folk music to live it needs some fire and to be played with co-operative rowdy abandon. And what makes this album so irresistible is the overflowing, enveloping vitality of the sound.

The songs chosen for the album encompass a range of musical styles, moods, and subject matters. The instrumentation is a gumbo stew of traditional folk instruments like the fiddle or banjo, as well as piano, drums, guitar, and a notable horn section adding a New Orleans style of jazz-blues that has a decadent melancholy beauty. The most whimsical and ancient tune is “Froggie Went a Courtin’” a tale of interspecies romance that originated in Scotland over 450 years ago. Other crowd pleasing numbers include the gentle and poignant “Shenandoah,” “Old Dan Tucker” the story of a man who had an unorthodox personal grooming regime, and “Jesse James” a ballad about that gallant outlaw. Working life is a common theme for folk music, and three pieces fit into this category. “John Henry” tells the classic story of man versus machine, “Pay Me My Money Down” is a rousing anthem for impoverished students and postdocs everywhere, and “Erie Canal” is a tender little song on the ebb and flow of daily work as man and mule haul coal and hay on the upstate New York waterways. Some songs of troubles past have obvious resonances with troubles present. “My Oklahoma Home” concerns the mass migration following the American Dust Bowl calamity of the 1930s. “Mrs. McGrath,” which originated in Ireland in 1815, is about a son returning from an overseas war in which he has lost both his legs. As the lyrics put it, “All foreign wars I do proclaim live on blood and a mother’s pain.” The remaining songs on the album, including “We Shall Overcome” and a spine-tingling version of “Eyes on the Prize,” can be grouped together as songs of struggle. Many of them were particularly associated with the music of the Civil Rights era and such songs often originated from African American spirituals. This album reinforces how essential the contribution of the African American musical tradition has been to the overall development of American music.

Thomas Paine, one of the Founding Fathers wrote, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” These words hold true today, here and abroad. This gritty little album is an unsentimental ray of sunshine to reminds us of some of the reasons to love America. American folk music has a hybrid vigor from the diverse inputs of the diversity of its people. Folk music—the music of, by, and for the people—has a distinctly democratic appeal because it illustrates that the life of ordinary working-class people can be a rich, complex, fascinating, and worthy subject for making music. The dominant theme of the songs in this album is struggle, personal or societal. In these songs the response to struggle is neither self-pitying nor self-righteous, it is hopeful and resilient—a truly optimistic American attitude. And the energetic joy radiating from this music is a lesson that although life can be tough, we should try to pursue as much happiness as possible traveling along the road. This time maybe it’s not the devil, but Bruce Springsteen who has all the best tunes.

For more information and to hear some tracks visit: www.brucespringsteen.net