Dar Williams - Highway Patrolman (Springsteen cover)

In honor of The Boss’s birthday this week, I submit this beauty from the stellar Badlands — A Tribute to Springsteen’s Nebraska.  Most of the tracks on this album are great, but this has always been one of my favorites. TGICF.

About Badlands:

Originally released on Columbia Records in 1982, Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska broke new ground in the world of music. Releasing demo versions, recorded with only acoustic or electric guitar, harmonica, and vocals, as his sixth album, Springsteen created an American classic; both an embodiment of the sincerity and spirit of the “common man” and a testimony to the unvarnished power of his song-writing. As legend has it, Bruce delivered the original songs to Columbia, recorded on a 4-track recorder, and insisted that the songs be released “as is.”

In November of 2000, Sub Pop Records released a tribute to Nebraska having gathered a collection of songs by artists inspired and influenced by this work. Producer Jim Sampas… specifically requested that these artists record their chosen track using only four tracks, in the spirit of the original.