Working on a Dream (song)

The song's sunny lyric develops what Rolling Stone called "a rare and timely moment of unabashed optimism" for Springsteen, possibly connected to the impending arrival of the Barack Obama administration:^[1]

I'm working on a dream,

Though sometimes it feels so far away ...

I'm working on a dream,

And I know it will be mine someday.

The title phrase is present in both the verses and chorus, and occurs some twenty times altogether in the song. The arrangement is mid-tempo, propelled by an acoustic guitar with organ and electric guitar washes throughout; the glossy Brendan O'Brien production also features partly submerged "la-la" backing vocals. The instrumental break features Springsteen whistling against a bari sax line.

"Working on a Dream" was first performed during Springsteen's November 2, 2008 appearance in Cleveland for Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, in an acoustic performance accompanied by Patti Scialfa. A chopped-up airing of the recorded version first appeared during the November 16 NBC Sunday Night Football broadcast at halftime.

The intact "Working on a Dream" began airing on radio stations and their websites on November 21, 2008,^[2] and was made available for free download via iTunes and the Sony BMG website on November 24. The track entered the UK Singles Chart at position 195 the following week.^[3] A music video appeared on some foreign sites showing the recording of the song. The song was a big hit on the American Triple-A Charts, peaking at No. 2, blocked only by "Get On Your Boots" by U2.

Deep blue stage lighting matched the album cover's look and feel during a Working on a Dream Tour performance of the title song; the band looks on as Clarence Clemons does the whistling break. Hartford Civic Center, April 24, 2009.

"Working on a Dream" had its first E Street Band performance on February 1, 2009, when it was included as part of Springsteen's halftime show during Super Bowl XLIII. This abbreviated rendition featured a full choir backing Springsteen, Scialfa, and Steve Van Zandt delivering the vocals from a pit stage in front of the main stage. Days later, during the Grammy Awards of 2009, Coldplay singer Chris Martin dropped the title phrase into the group's performance of "Viva La Vida".^[4]

When the 2009 Working on a Dream Tour began, the song became one of the surprisingly few selections from the album to be included into the show. Augmenting-for-the-tour backing vocalists Curtis King and Cindy Mizelle (two veterans of the Sessions Band Tour) had a significant role to play in the vocal layering, and saxophonist Clarence Clemons performed the whistling break in the middle of the song. Three minutes in, Springsteen inserted a modified version of this "Build a House" stage rap that had been developed during the prior Magic Tour.

Some elements of melody in "Working on a Dream" can be compared to The Beatles' 1966 song "And Your Bird Can Sing".

Charts

Chart (2009)	Peak Position
Canadian Hot 100	91
Croatian Top 40	1^[5]
Swedish Singles Chart	2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	95
US Adult Alternative Songs (Billboard)^[6]	2
Italian Singles Chart^[7]	26

Year-end charts

Chart (2009)	Position
Hungarian Singles Chart^[8]	171

References

↑ Hiatt, Brian (January 21, 2009). "Album Review: Working on a Dream". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
↑ Goldstein, Stan (November 20, 2008). "Hear "Working on a Dream" on Friday". The Star Ledger. Retrieved November 25, 2008.
↑ UK Singles Chart, chart date December 6, 2008.
↑ DeLuca, Dan (February 9, 2009). "Duo dominates Grammy night". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on February 14, 2009. Retrieved February 9, 2009.
↑ "Otvoreni radio - nacionalni glazbeni radio". Otvoreni.hr. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
↑ "Bruce Springsteen – Chart history" Billboard Adult Alternative Songs for Bruce Springsteen. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
↑ "Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream - Music Charts". Acharts.us. Retrieved 2012-03-15.
↑ "Éves összesített listák – MAHASZ Rádiós TOP 100 (súlyozott)". Mahasz. Mahasz.

External links

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

Bruce Springsteen Garry Tallent Roy Bittan Max Weinberg Steven Van Zandt Nils Lofgren Patti Scialfa Jake Clemons Charles Giordano Soozie Tyrell Former members Ernest Carter Clarence Clemons Danny Federici Suki Lahav Vini Lopez David Sancious Former touring musicians Everett Bradley Barry Danielian Clark Gayton Curtis King Ed Manion The Miami Horns Cindy Mizelle Michelle Moore Tom Morello Curt Ramm Jay Weinberg

Studio albums	Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973) The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle (1973) Born to Run (1975) Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978) The River (1980) Nebraska (1982) Born in the U.S.A. (1984) Tunnel of Love (1987) Human Touch (1992) Lucky Town (1992) The Ghost of Tom Joad (1995) The Rising (2002) Devils & Dust (2005) We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006) Magic (2007) Working on a Dream (2009) Wrecking Ball (2012) High Hopes (2014)

Live albums	Live 1975–85 (1986) In Concert/MTV Plugged (1993) Live in New York City (2001) Hammersmith Odeon London '75 (2006) Live in Dublin (2007) Live from the Carousel (2011) Apollo Theater 3/09/12 (2014) The Agora, Cleveland 1978 (2015) Tower Theater, Philadelphia 1975 (2015) Nassau Coliseum, New York 1980 (2015) Brendan Byrne Arena, New Jersey 1984 (2015) LA Sports Arena, California 1988 (2015) Schottenstein Center, Ohio 2005 (2015) Ippodromo delle Capannelle, Rome 2013 (2015) Arizona State University, Tempe 1980 (2015) The Christic Shows 1990 (2016)

Compilations	Greatest Hits (1995) 18 Tracks (1999) The Essential Bruce Springsteen (2003) Greatest Hits (2009) The Promise (2010) Collection: 1973–2012 (2013) Chapter and Verse (2016)

Box sets	The Born in the U.S.A. 12" Single Collection (1985) Tracks (1998) The Collection (2004) Born to Run: 30th Anniversary Edition (2005) The Collection 1973–1984 (2010) The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story (2010) The Album Collection Vol. 1 1973–1984 (2014) The Ties That Bind: The River Collection (2015)

EPs	Live Collection (1987) Chimes of Freedom (1988) Blood Brothers (1996) PBS Exclusive (2007) Magic Tour Highlights (2008) American Beauty (2014)

Singles	"Blinded by the Light" (1973) "Spirit in the Night" (1973) "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)" (1974) "Born to Run" (1975) "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" (1976) "Prove It All Night" (1978) "Badlands" (1978) "The Promised Land" (1978) "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)" (1979) "Hungry Heart" (1980) "Fade Away" (1981) "Sherry Darling" (1981) "The River" (1981) "Cadillac Ranch" (1981) "Point Blank" (1981) "Atlantic City" (1982) "Open All Night" (1982) "Dancing in the Dark" (1984) "Cover Me" (1984) "Born in the U.S.A." (1984) "I'm on Fire" (1985) "Glory Days" (1985) "I'm Goin' Down" (1985) "My Hometown" (1985) "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" (1985) "War" (1986) "Fire" (1987) "Brilliant Disguise" (1987) "Tunnel of Love" (1987) "One Step Up" (1988) "Tougher Than the Rest" (1988) "Spare Parts" (1988) "Human Touch" (1992) "57 Channels (And Nothin' On)" (1992) "Streets of Philadelphia" (1994) "Secret Garden" (1995) "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (1996) "Sad Eyes" (1999) "The Rising" (2002) "Lonesome Day" (2002) "Waitin' on a Sunny Day" (2003) "Devils & Dust" (2005) "Radio Nowhere" (2007) "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" (2008) "Working on a Dream" (2008) "My Lucky Day" (2008) "The Wrestler" (2009) "We Take Care of Our Own" (2012) "Death to My Hometown" (2012) "High Hopes" (2013)

Charting songs	"Be True" (1981) "Ramrod" (1981) "Johnny 99" (1982) "No Surrender" (1984) "Stand on It" (1985) "Because the Night" (live) (1986) "Chimes of Freedom" (live) (1988) "Youngstown" (1995) "American Skin (41 Shots)" (2001) "Pay Me My Money Down" (2006) "Long Walk Home" (2006) "My City of Ruins" (2011) "Rocky Ground" (2012)

Other notable songs	"Growin' Up" (1973) "For You" (1973) "Incident on 57th Street" (1973) "The Fever" (1973) "Thunder Road" (1975) "Night" (1975) "Backstreets" (1975) "She's the One" (1975) "Meeting Across the River" (1975) "Jungleland" (1975) "Adam Raised a Cain" (1978) "Racing in the Street" (1978) "Stay" (1979) "The Ties That Bind" (1980) "Independence Day" (1980) "Out in the Street" (1980) "Stolen Car" (1980) "Wreck on the Highway" (1980) "Nebraska" (1982) "Highway Patrolman" (1982) "Darlington County" (1984) "Working on the Highway" (1984) "Downbound Train" (1984) "Bobby Jean" (1984) "Pink Cadillac" (1984) "Jersey Girl" (1986) "Light of Day" (1993) "Murder Incorporated" (1995) "Land of Hope and Dreams" (2012) "Just Like Fire Would" (2014)

Video releases	Video Anthology / 1978–88 (1989) In Concert/MTV Plugged (1992) Blood Brothers (1996) The Complete Video Anthology / 1978–2000 (2001) Live in New York City (2001) Live in Barcelona (2003) VH1 Storytellers (2005) Wings For Wheels (2005) Hammersmith Odeon London '75 (2005) Live in Dublin (2007) Magic Tour Highlights (2008) London Calling: Live in Hyde Park (2010) The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town (2010) Springsteen & I (2013) Born in the U.S.A. Live: London 2013 (2014) A MusiCares Tribute to Bruce Springsteen (2014) Bruce Springsteen's High Hopes (2014) High Hopes in South Africa (2014) Hunter of Invisible Game (2014)

Tours	Born to Run tours (1974–77) Darkness Tour (1978) The River Tour (1980–81) Born in the U.S.A. Tour (1984–85) Tunnel of Love Express (1988) Human Rights Now! (1988) Bruce Springsteen 1992–1993 World Tour (1992–93) Ghost of Tom Joad Tour (1995–97) Reunion Tour (1999–2000) Rising Tour (2002–03) Vote for Change (2004) Devils & Dust Tour (2005) Seeger Sessions Band Tour (2006) Magic Tour (2007–08) Working on a Dream Tour (2009) Wrecking Ball Tour (2012-13) High Hopes Tour (2014) The River Tour 2016 (2016) Summer '17 (2017)

Related articles	Discography E Street Band Steel Mill The Sessions Band The Miami Horns Born to Run autobiography E Street Radio Little Steven's Underground Garage Outlaw Pete Mike Appel Jon Landau Brendan O'Brien Bob Clearmountain The Max Weinberg 7 Southside Johnny Joe Grushecky Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska

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