10 Underrated Bruce Springsteen Songs You Should Listen To
4. You've Got It (2012)
A brilliant concept-song, "You've Got It" never reveals what "it" actually is, but one still feels like they know exactly what Bruce is talking about. Yet, this isn't a lifeless formal exercise in songwriting. Brian Hiatt has written that this track serves as a musical trou normand in Wrecking Ball, and indeed, its place on the tracklist was carefully selected.
Coming in at the eighth spot, right after the title-track, it helps launch the second phase of the album. Prior to those two songs, Wrecking Ball is a heartland complaint, with explicit blue-collar and roots rock themes ("Shackled and Drawn", "Jack of All Trades" "Death To My Hometown", "This Depression").
Afterwards, the uplifting commences. "Wrecking Ball" sparks the rebellion, but "You've Got It" reveals what makes it possible. "It" is what gives one the strength and the guts to "give [their] best shot", to travel on the "Rocky Ground" and to keep believing in this "Land of Hope and Dreams". Musically, the joyous horn section, the hand-clap (starting at 1:14) and Bruce talking over the instrumental jam-session style (with his usual "Come on !" and "Whoo !") mark the transition from the blues-influenced beginning of the album to its gospel-oriented ending.
One thing's for sure, whatever it is, Bruce has got it.