Ragin' with Tom Joad
This past week we were learning about the Great Depression in my APUSH class. I usually have my students read an excerpt from The Grapes of Wrath while we are looking at the Dust Bowl and the experience of rural Americans during the early 1930s. I read the novel in high school (I think most California high schoolers my age were likely assigned the book at some point) and really didn’t like it. However, I read it again in my early 20s and enjoyed the novel immensly.
While discussing the book, Bruce Springsteen’s song “The Ghost of Tom Joad” came up. Knowing my kids, I also mentioned that Rage Against the Machine did a great, heavy cover of the tune. That led me to remember after class that Rage also did a fantastic cover of Dylan’s Maggie’s Farm, a song I was introduced to by the Dead.
Both of those songs are relevant now and the Rage versions, I think, convey the proper anger the lyrics convey more subtly. Enjoy!
