Album: Working on a Dream (2009)

License This Song 

Songfacts®:

• Springsteen told the Observer Music Monthly January 2009 the story behind this song, which concerns a man pining over a check out girl. He explained: "They opened up this big, beautiful supermarket near where we lived. Patti and I would go down, and I remember walking through the aisles - I hadn't been in one in a while - and I thought this place is spectacular... it's a fantasy land! And then I started to get into it. I started looking around and hmmm - the subtext in here is so heavy! It's like, 'Do people really want to shop in this store or do they just want to screw on the floor?'" [laughs]
  
  Springsteen added: "In the States they're sort of shameless, the bounty in them is overflowing. So the sexual subtext in the supermarket; well, perhaps, it's just twisted me."
  Springsteen concluded: "I'm telling you, it's there! So I came home, said: 'Wow, the supermarket is fantastic, it's my new favorite place. And I'm going to write a song about it!' If there's a supermarket and all these things are there, well, there has to be a queen. And if you go there, of course there is. There's millions of them, so it's kind of a song about finding beauty where it's ignored or where it's passed by."
• This song marks a rare example of Springsteen dropping an F-bomb in a lyric: "I turn back for a moment and catch a smile that blows this whole f--king place apart."

Comments: 10

• AnonymousSupposedly written about the A&P in Holmdel, NJ. When they rebuilt the store it was gorgeous, but difficult to navigate since it did not look look an ordinary supermarket. It's gone now.
• Barry from Sauquoit, Ny*** 'With my shopping cart I move through the heart of a sea of fools so blissfully unaware' ***
  On June 4th 1939, grocer Sylvan Goldman of Oklahoma City mounted wheels on a folding chair and thus the first shopping cart made its appearance...
  Also; with the song "Reno" he doesn't drop the F-word but he certainly refers to it ('Two hundred dollars straight in, Two-fifty up the ???')...
• Max from Beaverton, OrAlso Rob, F-bomb in LONG TIME COMIN':
  "I Reach 'neath your shirt, lay my hands across your belly
  And feel another one kickin' inside
  I ain't gonna **** it up this time"
  
  Q ot S is one of Bruce's worst. Each album has to have this amazing range from Genius to absolute drivel. My iTunes Springsteen library is 222 songs, but this is not one of them.
• Laura from Bracknell, United KingdomI can Rob, the early bird catches the f**kin' worm. From 'My best was never good enough' on the Ghost of Tom Joad album.
• Rob from Woodstock, GaIs this the only song in which Bruce drops the F-Bomb? I can't think of any other
• Will from Schoolcraft, Miholy crap, how does this song even remotely stand up to Mary Queen of Arkansas, dude?
  
  am i the only one who finds this song to be cheesier than a seven layer quesadilla.
• Scott from Sydney, AustraliaThe thing about the F-bomb: Because he so rarely uses it, it becomes so much more powerful and real when he does use it.
• Matt from Ft. Lauderdale, FlBest song on 'Working On A Dream"! Love the F Bomb! The Boss Rules!
• Nancy from Winnipeg, MbLOVE the authentic supermarket scanner sounds at the end of the song! Cool, whimsical tune...
• Marty from Mount Vernon, Iathis song harkens back to springsteens early songs like Mary Queen of Arkansas or does this bus stop at 82nd street. Great song.

More Songfacts:

KashmirLed Zeppelin

"Kashmir" is the only Led Zeppelin song to use outside musicians, as it needed strings and horns.

LolaThe Kinks

When The Kinks released "Lola," most people didn't realize Lola was a man. "I was dancing with this beautiful blonde, then we went out into the daylight and I saw her stubble," Ray Davies said of the inspiration.

That'll Be The DayBuddy Holly

Buddy Holly got the title for his hit song "That'll Be The Day" from a phrase John Wayne repeats in the 1956 movie The Searchers.

Piano ManBilly Joel

Billy Joel is surprised that "Piano Man" is so successful. He called it "an old, long song about a guy at a depressing piano bar."

Without YouNilsson

The song "Without You," a hit for Nilsson in 1972 and Mariah Carey in 1994, was written and originally recorded by Badfinger in 1970.

Blaze Of GloryJon Bon Jovi

Jon Bon Jovi earned his first movie credit - Young Guns II - by writing "Blaze Of Glory" for the film.

Editor's Picks

Facebook, Bromance and Email - The First Songs To Use New WordsSong Writing

Where words like "email," "thirsty," "Twitter" and "gangsta" first showed up in songs, and which songs popularized them.

Stand By Me: The Perfect Song-Movie CombinationSong Writing

In 1986, a Stephen King novella was made into a movie, with a classic song serving as title, soundtrack and tone.

AdeleFact or Fiction

Despite her reticent personality, Adele's life and music are filled with intrigue. See if you can spot the true tales.

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Al Jourgensen of MinistrySongwriter Interviews

In the name of song explanation, Al talks about scoring heroin for William Burroughs, and that's not even the most shocking story in this one.