Songfacts®:

• This song is about two brothers near the Mexico border trying to live off the land. It's far removed from Springsteen's life growing up in New Jersey, but typical of his character-driven songwriting, which in this case takes on a common theme: folks just trying to survive.
• Springsteen says this song is about "hope, faith, love, community," and "every Western I ever saw."
• "This Hard Land" dates back to 1982, when Springsteen started working on it with the E Street Band during sessions for the Born In The USA album. It was left off the album, but Springsteen started playing an acoustic version live in 1993 when he toured without the E Street Band for the first time (he broke up the group in 1989). He got the band back together to record a new version of "This Hard Land" in 1995 for use on his first compilation album, Greatest Hits, released later that year. Along with "Murder Incorporated," it was one of two songs left over from the Born In The USA sessions, and one of five previously unreleased songs.
  
  Springsteen didn't permanently regroup the E Street Band until 1999. When he did, "This Hard Land" often made their setlists.
• Springsteen's longtime Drummer Max Weinberg has said on several occasions that this song, along with "Ramrod," are his favorites to play. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Kyle - Belleville, Canada
• "This Hard Land" is the name of a Springsteen fan group in Finland. When he played a show in Turku, Finland, in 2013, he played the song and dedicated it to them.