Presidential campaign theme songs: "We Take Care of Our Own" - Bruce Springsteen for Obama 2012

By Richard K. Barry

I'm not sure I knew this, but it seems to be the case that Springsteen's "We Take Care of Our Own" was played throughout Barack Obama's 2012 reelection campaign.

It was the first single from his album Wrecking Ball, debuted live on February 12, 2012 at the 54th Grammy Awards and was nominated for two Grammy Awards for Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song.

Though it is a rather odd choice for a campaign song, as this comments from Songfacts suggests:

Much of the song's lyrical content appears to contradict its title. For instance Springsteen explicitly references America's lack of care for the Hurricane Katrina casualties. ("From the shotgun shack to the Super Dome/There ain't no help, the cavalry stayed home"). Springsteen clarified the song's message, during the unveiling of Wrecking Ball to the world's media at Sony Records' Paris headquarters. "The song asks the question that the rest of the record tries to answer which is, 'Do we?' - we often don't," he said.

I guess no one was listening to the lyrics all that closely.  As long as it's an up-tempo rocker and "The Boss" is singing it.