ABSTRACT
Bruce Springsteen is widely regarded as a political artist. The purpose of this chapter is to illuminate some of the rhetorical processes by which Springsteen’s music and performances become political texts, primarily through an analysis of the album Devils … Dust (2005) and its title song. The album and song were recorded not long after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, and they can be read as unambiguous efforts to engage public discourses of the period, including the ongoing political debates about American military presence in the Middle East, as well as the popular displays of anti-war sentiment. Borrowing the notion of rhetorical ecologies (Edbauer, 2005; Syverson, 1999), the chapter examines how the lyrical, musical, and visual dimensions of Devils & Dust interact with these larger sociopolitical discourses, ultimately arguing that the album and song represent a crucial moment in Springsteen’s evolution as a public rhetor.
