"Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" makes a particularly good choice for Springsteen. It's almost a gospel song, though more associated with political struggles than religious. Nonetheless, this song, like "O Mary Don't You Weep," channels his secular liberal religion to the verities of our most organic American spiritual music. That idea of faith and perseverance comes out so much better in these classics than some tuneless, contrived pseudo-Guthrieism.

This is some righteous church music. You needn't be a Christian or a Stalinist folk singer to take substantive spiritual nourishment from the encouragement of "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize." This one of the most beautiful and spiritually profound recordings I've heard any time recently.

I was particularly surprised by how beautiful the "Erie Canal" came out. I remember somewhat liking this tune in grade school, but I've never heard it given a serious recording. For starters, this recording makes me realize that a lot of those grade school songs were not children's music. This is SO much better as a basic melody and song than any recent Springsteen composition, and so much more natural a statement of working class sentiment than his political contrivances.

If Springsteen wants to show solidarity with the working man, this is a particularly good way to do it. This is a beautiful display of weariness and determined perseverance, the kind of things that might be the good artistic themes that he'd want to pursue in this vein. Really though, careful listening reveals that this is basically a love song to a mule - and a very moving one at that. Hey, Sal is his co-worker, companion, and protector. That sounds better than most wives.

This song even makes a banjo come out somber. That's a pretty tough trick, as per the classic Steve Martin routine. Yet in at least a couple of places on the album, notably "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" and this "Erie Canal," the banjo cuts an unusual and artistically rewarding non-joyous tune.

Of course, the classic "John Henry" is a perfect Bruce Springsteen song, when you think about it. Again that will-to-power thing of Springsteen projects well into this tale of the working man who died with a hammer in his hand. Springsteen turns in as good a vocal performance of the song as any I've heard, but he also has a particularly sharp, well detailed arrangement. They may be credited as "violins," but this is some legitimate fiddling, among other things. The accordion solo helps set it off. I'd put this back to back with even the Johnny Cash performance.