Land of Hope and Dreams

Grab your ticket and your suitcase
Thunder's rolling down the tracks
You don't know where you're goin'
But you know you won't be back
Darlin' if you're weary
Lay your head upon my chest
We'll take what we can carry
And we'll leave the rest

Big Wheels rolling through fields
Where sunlight streams
Meet me in a land of hope and dreams

I will provide for you
And I'll stand by your side
You'll need a good companion for
This part of the ride
Leave behind your sorrows
Let this day be the last
Tomorrow there'll be sunshine
And all this darkness past

Big wheels roll through fields
Where sunlight streams
Meet me in a land of hope and dreams

This train...Carries saints and sinners
This train...Carries losers and winners
This Train...Carries whores and gamblers
This Train...Carries lost souls
This Train...Dreams will not be thwarted
This Train...Faith will be rewarded
This Train...Hear the steel wheels singin'
This Train...Bells of freedom ringin'
This Train...Carries broken-hearted
This Train...Thieves and sweet souls departed
This Train...Carries fools and kings
This Train...All aboard

This Train...Dreams will not be thwarted
This Train...Faith will be rewarded
This Train...Hear the steel wheels singin'
This Train...Bells of freedom ringin'


Another brilliant song by the Boss! The image of a train carrying all people towards a better future is fantastic. This is 'the land of hope and dreams'. It taps deeply into American cultural resevoirs containing both christian and democratic, egalitarian language.
But does having hope and dreams of a better future necessarily lead to that future becoming a reality? If it doesn't, is the community that is created by shared hopes ultimately of any value? Why would faith simply in a better future be rewarded? Who rewards? What sort of freedom does living with hope and dreams bring, or do we just become captives to our ability/inability to act on our hope and dreams?