Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Rutgers University Press, and author June Skinner Sawyers for the advanced reader copy of this book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

Anyone who has really been a fan of Bruce Springsteen over his career spanning six decades could hardly be shocked by his recent endorsement of Kamala Harris. Yet, every time he speaks out on an election, alleged fans of his try to claim that they had no idea of his political leanings and vow to never listen to him again. Even if I believed these people’s declarations, I’d give them no merit. It’s not Springsteen who has changed over the years. He has always sung songs championing the working man and those on the fringes of society; good people who haven’t reaped the rewards of the “American Dream.”

June Skinner Sawyers is a Scottish author who has written many books about music and travel, including four books now about Bruce Springsteen. In We Take Care of Our Own, Sawyers looks at what shaped the values Springsteen sings about in many of his songs. The background information is not new to anyone who has read any of the biographies out there about Springsteen, particularly Bruce by Peter Ames Carlin and his autobiography, Born To Run. Sawyers puts that biographical information in a different light, showing how the world he grew up in shaped what he would later put to words and music.

Sawyers addresses the empathy Springsteen has for his fellow man; how despite the fact that he’s never really held a “real” job in his life he manages to craft lyrics that the working class can relate to. Springsteen is an empath. He can see people and put himself in their shoes and create the story of their lives. Sawyers attributes a lot of this to his faith. Although Springsteen has a sort of love/hate relationship with the Roman Catholic faith, Sawyers shows how that influenced Springsteen. What the Roman Catholic faith was traditionally about is the antithesis of the right-wing in America today.

It seems like as Springsteen watched, the world around him changed. From the 1950s and 1960s when there seemed to be a sense of community to the evolution of only caring about how things affect you and your immediate family, Sawyers conveys how Springsteen has captured the desperation and dreams of people on the edge.

The lyrics of Springsteen’s songs reflect this. Sawyers brings up songs from throughout Springsteen’s career to show his empathy with the working man. The earlier records were setting the stage for Springsteen’s outspokenness about politics. As the country moved further right in the 1980s, it was perceived that Springsteen was moving left. However, Springsteen and his values really didn’t change, which goes back to the point I was making earlier that Springsteen hasn’t changed, but the fans that decry his politics have.

At only 168 pages, this isn’t a long read, nor is it difficult. I don’t think you have to be a Springsteen fan to read it and grasp what’s being said. Sawyers reprints the lyrics enough to support her position that people unfamiliar with Springsteen’s work will understand what she’s talking about. I feel like this book also makes the argument that Springsteen is one of the most important artists of the past sixty years. History will look at Springsteen’s lyrics as reflective of what America was like, particularly for those not blessed by the “American Dream.”

On initial reflection, one would think Springsteen’s album Western Stars wouldn’t fit into this mold, but Sawyers manages to show how the alleged rugged individualism of the American West also influenced Springsteen and how that album, with its strong theme running throughout, also fits in well with the values Springsteen has been reflecting in his words over the years.

We Take Care of Our Own is a great reflection of Springsteen the artist as well as America at the crossroads. Sawyers does a fantastic job tying all of it together: SPringsteens background, influences, and values as they are translated into his lyrics. It’s a great read.