THE 100 MOST INFLUENTIAL MUSICIANS OF ALL TIME

7 The 100 Most Influential Musicians of All Time 7

was written about Asbury Park but took on a different
tone in the wake of the September 11 attacks. That tone
continued on The Rising, his 2002 album with the E Street
Band, which weighed the consequences of the attacks and
their aftermath. Beginning on the Rising tour, Springsteen
became an adamant critic of the U.S. government, espe-
cially regarding the Iraq War. Springsteen’s 2005 solo tour,
following the release of the Devils and Dust album, explored
the full depth of his song catalog and continued his oppo-
sition to the administration’s policies.
We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (2006) took a turn
unanticipated by even the closest Springsteen observers.
He made the recording over a period of 10 years with a
folk-roots band and a horn section. It featured traditional
American folk songs (“Oh, Mary, Don’t You Weep,”
“Froggie Went A-Courtin’,” and “John Henry”) as well as
songs associated with its inspiration, Pete Seeger (“My
Oklahoma Home,” “How Can I Keep from Singing,” and
“Bring ’Em Home”). Springsteen’s tour of the United
States and Europe in 2006 featured a 20-piece band.
Magic (2007), another E Street Band album, spoke
sometimes metaphorically and sometimes explicitly in
opposition to the war and government intrusions on civil
liberties. Springsteen continued his commentary through
a worldwide tour with the E Street Band in 2007 and 2008.
After the April 2008 death of the E Street Band organist
and accordionist Danny Federici from melanoma, the
band’s playing acquired a darker urgency of tone. The later
stages of the Magic tour featured arguably the most assertive,
inspired playing Springsteen and the group had ever done.
Working on a Dream, released in early 2009, concerned
itself lyrically with thoughts of love and life, how fleeting
both are and what it takes to stay the course. The music on
the album was a much more sophisticated version of what