Highway Patrolman
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"Highway Patrolman" is a song written and recorded by
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
and was first released as the fifth track on his 1982 album ''
Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...
''. The song tells the story of Joe Roberts, the
highway patrol A highway patrol, or state patrol is either a police unit created primarily for the purpose of overseeing and enforcing traffic safety compliance on roads and highways, or a detail within an existing local or regional police agency that is prima ...
man of the title from whose viewpoint the song is written and his brother, Frankie, and is set in the 1960s. Frankie is portrayed as unruly and frequently causing and encountering trouble, while Joe is the more mature and sensible brother who always comes to his aid. In 1965, Frankie joins the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
(and presumably is sent to
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, though this is not made explicit), while Joe takes a farm deferment and marries a girl called Maria (who, it is implied, had attracted the attentions of both brothers). Within three years however, falling wheat prices cause Joe to leave the farm and take a job as a highway patrolman. Meanwhile, in 1968, Frankie leaves the army and returns home. One night, Joe receives a call and visits a bar where a boy has been attacked and appears to be in a serious condition ("on the floor looking bad, bleeding hard from his head"), with a witness ("a girl crying at a table") identifying his attacker as Frankie, who has fled. Joe chases Frankie through rural
Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
until they reach - and Frankie crosses - the Canada–US border, the implication being that Joe has allowed him to escape; as the lyrics suggest, "when it's your brother, sometimes you look the other way" and "I pulled over the side of the highway and watched his tail lights disappear." Like the rest of the album, the song was recorded on Springsteen's four-track cassette recorder with the intention of it being performed for the album with his full band; however, it was felt that the demo version of the song was superior to the eventual 'band cut' and was released on the album in its original form. It features the same stark, bleak atmosphere as the other songs on the album, and it consists of only vocals, very quiet
harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
and
acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
. Springsteen featured the song only once on the "American Land" leg of his critically acclaimed tour with the Seeger Sessions band, and the version is featured on the 2007 release '' Bruce Springsteen with The Sessions Band: Live in Dublin''. This version was praised by
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
critic Andy Greene as the "fantastic, maybe definitive" version of the song.


Artistic licenses

Like many creative writers, Springsteen creates a time and place that people can relate to but that may not necessarily exist: * The lyrics say Joe is "a sergeant out of Perrineville." The only American city with that name is
Perrineville, New Jersey Perrineville is an unincorporated community located within Millstone Township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP code 08535. As of the 2000 United States Census, the populati ...
. There is, however, an unincorporated community calle
Perronville
in
Harris Township, Michigan Harris Township is a civil township of Menominee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,895 at the 2000 census. Communities * Harris is an unincorporated community in the township on US 2 and US 41 at . A post office named ...
. * While the lyrics state, "I must have done a hundred and ten through Michigan county that night," there is no Michigan County anywhere in the United States. * There is no land border between Michigan and Canada as the song suggests. (There are, however, many bridges and other water crossings between Michigan and Canada. Many road signs in New Jersey say, "New York City, 5 miles". But, there is ''no land border'' between New Jersey and NYC, as those signs ''appear to suggest''... to some.) * The refrain mentions a song called "The Night of the
Johnstown Flood The Johnstown Flood (locally, the Great Flood of 1889) occurred on Friday, May 31, 1889, after the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam, located on the south fork of the Little Conemaugh River, upstream of the town of Johnstown, Pennsylv ...
," but the tune is probably fictitious. In the years after the Springsteen song was released, several groups would record songs with that title.


Legacy

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama ''Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televisi ...
based the screenplay of his 1991 directorial debut ''
The Indian Runner ''The Indian Runner'' is a 1991 crime drama film written and directed by Sean Penn in his directorial debut. Based on Bruce Springsteen's song "Highway Patrolman", the film depicts the relationship between two brothers who find themselves on oppos ...
'' on the song's story. Penn also directed a music video of the song that appeared on 2001 reissue of '' Video Anthology / 1978-88''. The song was covered by
Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...
on his 1983 album ''
Johnny 99 ''Johnny 99'' is the 69th album by American country singer Johnny Cash, released on Columbia Records in 1983. It is notable for including two covers of Bruce Springsteen songs, " Highway Patrolman" and " Johnny 99". "I'm Ragged but I'm Right ...
''. The title track of the album is also a Springsteen song originally released on the album ''Nebraska''.
Dar Williams Dorothy Snowden "Dar" Williams (born April 19, 1967) is an American pop folk singer-songwriter from Mount Kisco, New York. Hendrik Hertzberg of ''The New Yorker'' has described Williams as "one of America's very best singer-songwriters." She is ...
performed "Highway Patrolman" on '' Badlands - A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska''. Whitey Morgan covered this song on his 2014 album ''Grandpa's Guitar''. Croatian writer
Jurica Pavičić Jurica Pavičić (born 2 November 1965 in Split) is a Croatian writer, columnist and film critic. Pavičić's screenplay for ''Witnesses'' (''Svjedoci''), Vinko Brešan's 2003 film, won the Golden Arena for Best Screenplay in the 2003 Pula Film Fes ...
was inspired by the song to write an eponymous novel about two brothers.
Croatian Television ''Hrvatska radiotelevizija'' (abbr. HRT), or Croatian Radiotelevision, is Croatia's public broadcasting company. It operates several radio and television channels, over a domestic transmitter network as well as satellite. HRT is divided into thr ...
made it into a 5-episodes TV Show ''Patrola na cesti'' (''Highway Patrol'') in 2015/16.


Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: *
Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
– vocals, guitar, harmonica, mandolin


References


External links


Lyrics & Audio clips from Brucespringsteen.net

Rollingstone
* http://whiteymorgan.com/ {{authority control 1982 songs Bruce Springsteen songs Songs written by Bruce Springsteen Song recordings produced by Bruce Springsteen Songs about siblings