ROCKY GROUND

Album version

(I'm a soldier!)
(I'm a soldier!)
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

Rise up shepherd, rise up
Your flock has roamed far from the hills
The stars have faded, the sky is still
The angels are shouting "Glory hallelujah"

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

Forty days and nights of rain have washed this land
Jesus said the money changers in this temple will not stand
Find your flock, get them to higher ground
The floodwater's rising, we're Canaan bound

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
(I'm a soldier!)

Tend to your flock or they will stray
We'll be called for our service come judgment day
Before we cross that river wide
The blood on our hands will come back on us twice

(I'm a soldier!)

Rise up shepherd, rise up
Your flock has roamed far from the hills
Stars have faded, the sky is still
Sun's in the heavens and a new day's rising

You use your muscle and your mind and you pray your best
That your best is good enough, the Lord will do the rest
You raise your children and you teach them to walk straight and sure
You pray that hard times, hard times come no more
You try to sleep, you toss and turn, the bottom's dropping out
Where you once had faith now there's only doubt
You pray for guidance, only silence now meets your prayers
The morning breaks, you awake but no one's there

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
There's a new day coming
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
(I'm a soldier!)
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
Oh, a new day's coming
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
(I'm a soldier!)
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
Oh, a new day's coming
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
(I'm a soldier!)
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
There's a new day coming
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground

We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground
We've been traveling over rocky ground, rocky ground [fades]

Page last updated: 15 Jun 2012

Info

Music and lyrics by Bruce Springsteen, ROCKY GROUND is the ninth track on his 2012 album, Wrecking Ball.

The song debuted on 29 Feb 2012, streaming on NPR.org.

The above lyrics are for Springsteen's studio version of ROCKY GROUND as released on Wrecking Ball. The lines in bold are sung by the Michelle Moore.

Composition and Recording

It has not yet been revealed when ROCKY GROUND was written or recorded, but it's probably in 2010. The lineup on this track includes Bruce Springsteen, Ron Aniello, Charlie Giordano (B-3 organ), the Victorious Gospel Choir (backing vocals), and a horn section consisting from Curt Ramm (trumpet and/or cornet), Clark Gayton (trombone), Stan Harrison (clarinet, alto sax, and/or tenor sax), Ed Manion (tenor sax and/or baritone sax), Dan Levine (alto horn and/or euphonium), and Art Baron (euphonium and/or tuba).

The track also features the voice gospel singer Michelle Moore who provides backing vocals along and also delivers a brief rap towards the song's end. Springsteen has stated that he originally attempted to do the rapping himself but was not satisfied with the sound – see the spoken intro for the live 09 Mar 2012 version for more details. According to producer Ron Aniello, they casted several people for the part. Aniello even considered getting famous gospel singers like Al Green or Mavis Staples.

The studio version of ROCKY GROUND uses excerpts from Alan Lomax's recording of I'M A SOLDIER IN THE ARMY OF THE LORD. According to producer Ron Aniello, it was Springsteen who had the idea to use the Alan Lomax recordings on the album.

Single

Besides its release on Wrecking Ball, ROCKY GROUND was also released in April 2012 on a limited edition 7-inch single sold in North America and Europe exclusively at independent stores that participated in the 5th annual "Record Store Day" campaign (21 Apr 2012). The single's B-side is THE PROMISE [live 07 Dec 2010 version] and it has catalogue number COL 85689 96704 75.

ROCKY GROUND was also released on a Germany-only promotional 7-inch single given away exclusively with copies of the May 2012 issue of German Rolling Stone magazine. The single is one-sided and has no catalogue number.

Music Video and Remix

A music video of ROCKY GROUND was first released on 24 May 2012 on both Bruce Springsteen's official website and Bruce Springsteen's YouTube channel. The music video features the lyrics being written down on paper in sync with the song, interchanging this with a series of urban and suburban imagery.

On 15 Jun 2012, a "Modern Mix" of ROCKY GROUND was released on both Bruce Springsteen's official website and Bruce Springsteen's YouTube channel. This edit clocks at 3:22 while the album version clocks at 4:40.

Wrecking Ball

Wrecking Ball is Bruce Springsteen's seventeenth studio album. It was produced by Ron Aniello with Bruce Springsteen and executive producer Jon Landau, and features special guest appearances from Tom Morello and Matt Chamberlain.

Before the album came together, Springsteen was originally working on a gospel record on which he spent on-and-off about a year. He had written about 30 to 40 songs, including WE TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN, SHACKLED AND DRAWN, and ROCKY GROUND. Then he decided to drop the project and started focusing on solo material. It was on 09 Jan 2011 that Ron Aniello first went to Colts Neck to help Springsteen finish arrangements for the project he was working on. After they had been working together for about a month, Springsteen wrote EASY MONEY which was a different style of song to what they've been working on before. As Aniello told to WCHR-FM's Tom Cunningham, "things just started steam rolling into this other record, you know, not sure what was going round in his mind." Springsteen was bringing in more songs, and it was evident that the direction of the music was changing. Jon Landau came in, listened to the music, and after a discussion with Springsteen they decided to do a new album. "Literally, this man bought in a new song every day. He just bulldozed us with these songs," Aniello explained.

Springsteen was coming in every morning with a new song and it would start with just him and his guitar. He would then sing a rhythm to Aniello, or sit down at the drums and play a beat. Aniello was looping these drum beats – no drum machines were used on Wrecking Ball – and adding other layers, like loops of percussion, also played by Springsteen. According to Aniello, this was done just for convenience because they were alone in studio, songs were coming in quick, and there were no other musicians there. The loops stayed, and other instruments were added at later stages. "Ron brought a large library of sound that allowed me to explore – like maybe a hip-hop drum loop or country-blues stomp loop," Springsteen told Rolling Stone in 2012. "The actual drums came later. There was no preconceived set of instruments that needed to be used, I could go anywhere, do anything, use anything. It was very wide open." Everybody who was around was participating in the recording. They even jumped on pieces of plywood, built some some risers to stomp on, and hit couches to makes noises.

Wrecking Ball was mainly recorded at Stone Hill Studio, Springsteen's home studio at his Colts Neck, NJ farm house. The album was released on Columbia Records on 05 Mar 2012 in the UK, 06 Mar 2012 in the United States, and 21 Mar 2012 in Japan.

Wrecking Ball was recorded with a large ensemble of musicians. There's a core of six musicians, while all others are just guest artists. Some E Street Band members appear on a few of the tracks. According to Ron Aniello, the album credits are "a mess" and will be revised in future reissues.

• Bruce Springsteen (lead vocals, guitars, banjo, piano, organ, drums, percussion, and loops) appears on all the album's tracks.
• Ron Aniello (guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, loops, percussion, hurdy gurdy, and backing vocals) appears on all of the album's tracks. He is also the album producer.
• Matt Chamberlain (drums and percussion) appears on tracks 3, 5, and 8.
• Max Weinberg (drums) is an E Street Band member and appears on tracks 7, 11, and 13.
• Steve Jordan (percussion) has previously appeared on Springsteen's Devils & Dust, playing drums and percussion. He plays percussion on track 2.
• Kevin Buell (drums and backing vocals) is Springsteen's guitar technician. He appears on track 5.
• Charlie Giordano (accordion, piano, B-3 organ, and celeste) recorded and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band and joined the E Street band in 2008. He appears on most of the album's tracks.
• Marc Muller (pedal steel guitar) is a multi-instrumentalist who mainly plays string instruments. He plays pedal steel guitar on track 3.
• Tom Morello (electric guitar) appears on tracks 4 and 6.
• Greg Leisz (banjo, mandola, and lap steel) is a multi-instrumentalist, mainly playing lap and pedal steel guitars, guitar, mandolin, and bass. He appears on tracks 8 and 11.
• Rob Lebert (electric guitar and backing vocals) appears on tracks 5, 7, 8, 12, and 13.
• Darrell Leonard (trumpet and bass trumpet) is a Los Angeles based trumpet player, composer and arranger. He appears on track 11.
• Curt Ramm (trumpet and cornet) toured with The Seeger Sessions Band. He appears on tracks 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, and 10.
• Clark Gayton (trombone) toured with The Seeger Sessions Band. He appears on tracks 3, 4, 8, 9, and 10.
• Stan Harrison (clarinet, alto sax, and tenor sax) has previously appeared on Springsteen's The Promise, playing tenor saxophone. He appears on tracks 3, 4, 8, 9, and 10.
• Ed Manion (tenor sax and baritone sax) is a member of The Miami Horns and he toured with the E Street band in 1988 and recorded and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band. He appears on tracks 3, 4, 8, 9, and 10.
• Dan Levine (alto horn and euphonium) is a New York City based musician who plays several horn instruments in studios and live. He appears on tracks 3, 4, 9, and 10.
• Art Baron (euphonium, tuba, sousaphone, and penny whistle) recorded and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band. He appears on tracks 3, 4, 5, 9, and 10.
• Clarence Clemons (saxophone) was an E Street Band member and appears on tracks 7 and 10.
• Soozie Tyrell (violin and backing vocals) started touring with the E Street band in 2002 and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band in 2006. She appears on most of the album's tracks.
• Patti Scialfa (backing vocals and vocal arrangements) is Springsteen's wife and a member of the E Street Band since 1984. She appears on most of the album's tracks.
• Lisa Lowell (backing vocals) has been singing backup vocals on several Springsteen albums since 1992 and recorded and toured with The Seeger Sessions Band. She appears on tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, and 12.
• Cindy Mizelle (background vocals) toured with The Seeger Sessions Band and the E Street Band in 2009. She appears on track 3.
• Ross Peterson (backing vocals) appears on tracks 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, and 13.
• Cliff Norrell (tuba and backing vocals) is the album's engineer. He appears on tracks 3, 5, 7, 8, 12, and 13.
• New York String Section (strings), also known as the New York Chamber Consort, consists of Rob Mathes (orchestration), Sandy Park (string contractor), Lisa Kim (concertmaster), Myumju Lee (violin), Ann Lehmaan (violin), Lizz Lim (violin), Johanna Marher (violin), Annaliesa Place (violin), Fiona Simon (violin), Sharon Yamada (violin), Jung Sun Yu (violin), Karen Dreyfus (viola), Daniel Panner (viola), Robert Rinehart (viola), Mina Smith (cello), and Alan Stepansky (cello). It appears on tracks 1, 4, and 7.
• Victorious Gospel Choir (backing vocals) has previously appeared on Springsteen's The Rising. On Wrecking Ball, the choir includes Michelle Moore, Antoinette Savage, Corinda Carford, Tiffeny Andrews, Soloman Cobbs, and Lillie Brown. It appears on tracks 2, 9, and 10. Michelle Moore is credited separately on the three tracks. The remaining singers are credited individually on track 2, and as the Victorious Gospel Choir on tracks 9 and 10.
• Jeremy McCoy (bass violin) is a bass guitar player. He appears on track 12.
• Dan Shelly (bassoon) is an orchestra bassoon player. He appears on track 12.
• Mark Romatz (contra bassoon) is an orchestra bassoon player. He appears on track 12.
• Steven Van Zandt (mandolin and backing vocals) is an E Street Band member. He appears on tracks 7, 10, and 13.

Wrecking Ball is available in three configurations: standard CD edition, special CD edition featuring two bonus tracks and exclusive packaging, and double-disc vinyl. The album features 11 new Springsteen recordings and the special edition includes two bonus tracks. All 13 tracks are Springsteen compositions, and three of them have previously been released in live forms.

Track list:

1. WE TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN
2. EASY MONEY
3. SHACKLED AND DRAWN
4. JACK OF ALL TRADES
5. DEATH TO MY HOMETOWN
6. THIS DEPRESSION
7. WRECKING BALL
8. YOU'VE GOT IT
9. ROCKY GROUND
10. LAND OF HOPE AND DREAMS
11. WE ARE ALIVE
12. SWALLOWED UP (IN THE BELLY OF THE WHALE) [bonus track]
13. AMERICAN LAND [bonus track]

The album topped the charts in 16 countries, including the United States and the UK.

Live History

ROCKY GROUND was performed off-tour on 09 Mar 2012 at Apollo Theater in New York City, NY, during the Sirius Satellite Radio 10-year anniversary celebration. The song was played with the E Street Band and Michelle Moore. See the live 09 Mar 2012 version for more details.

ROCKY GROUND was performed off-tour on 15 Mar 2012 at Moody Theater in Austin, TX, during an intimate concert following Bruce Springsteen's keynote speech at the South By Southwest music festival. The song was played with the E Street Band and Michelle Moore.

[Click here to display/hide detailed 2012 off-tour performances list]

In preparation for the Wrecking Ball Tour, ROCKY GROUND is known to have been practiced during the private rehearsal that took place on 12 May 2012 in Seville, Spain prior to the tour's European leg.

[Click here to display/hide detailed Wrecking Ball Tour rehearsals performances list]

Available Versions

List of available versions of ROCKY GROUND on this website:

• Album version
• Live 09 Mar 2012 version

Credits

Thanks Adrià for the lyrics corrections and Peter (from Lost In The Flood) for the Rolling Stone exclusive single scan.

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