UPDATED 6:45 a.m.: Bruce Springsteen announced details Thursday morning of his 17th studio album, "Wrecking Ball," to be released March 6. The album will feature 11 new songs (13 in a special edition) produced by Ron Aniello.
No extra tour dates were announced -- Springsteen with the E Street Band has concerts scheduled in Europe through July -- but a source within the Chicago Cubs told the Sun-Times late Wednesday that the Boss is tentatively scheduled to perform at Wrigley Field in September.
A Springsteen concert at Wrigley is already posted on some ticket scalper sites with a date of Sept. 8, though no actual tickets are on offer.
Springsteen's current published touring schedule shows dates through the end of July. The Cubs are away from Wrigley on Sept. 3-13.
Wednesday afternoon, however, Vice President of Ballpark Operations Carl Rice said he could not confirm any concert agreement in place for September.
The first single from "Wrecking Ball" is available Thursday. "We Take Care of Our Own" is a moderate driving stomp that lists all the points on the map swelling with a mythical American pride and protection, including Chicago.
Listen to it here ...
"Bruce has dug down as deep as he can to come up with this vision of modern life," long-time manager and executive producer Jon Landau said in Thursday's announcement. "The lyrics tell a story you can't hear anywhere else and the music is his most innovative in recent years. The writing is some of the best of his career and both veteran fans and those who are new to Bruce will find much to love on 'Wrecking Ball.'"
Rolling Stone reports the record includes E Street members, as well as Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello and former Pearl Jam drummer Matt Chamberlain.
Two E Street Band members have died in recent years: Danny Federici in 2008 and legendary saxophonist Clarence Clemons last year.
Springsteen is scheduled to deliver the keynote address March 15 at the annual South by Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas.
A Springsteen show would make the second concert at Wrigley this summer. Roger Waters announced earlier a June 8 performance of "The Wall."
The ballpark has hosted concerts annually the last couple of summers, including two-night stands with Paul McCartney last summer and Dave Matthews in 2010.
Could you easily be more wrong? You clearly haven't even bothered to listen to the song. It's bitter and angry about how the "promise from sea to shining sea" has been betrayed. Your silly description is like when Reagan wanted to use "Born in the U.S.A." as his campaign theme song.
I echo Jackie's sentiments exactly. Apparently you heard "we take care of our own" and thought, "wow what an uplifting song", when the rest of the lyrics tell the true story of how people have been left out, abandoned, and without any help when they really need it (e.g. the reference to the Super Dome). This is one of those songs that people who are totally out of touch with what the majority of Americans are facing will view as a positive anthem of the greatness of America.
You two don't know what "mythical" means I take it?
Did you two geniuses not read the word "mythical" in his description of the song?! I hate when stupid people try to tell other people that they're wrong.