Bruce Springsteen has covered Woody Guthrie and Dropkick Murphys during a special show for the Music America: The Songs that Shaped Us show.
The first of two appearances from The Boss featured one original song featured on his We Shall Overcome: The Pete Seeger Sessions, and four covers. Springsteen was joined by Rosanne Cash, the daughter of Johnny Cash, as well as Dropkick Murphys, for the five-song set. The setlist also featured a cover song which Springsteen has not performed since 2014. The performance comes fresh off the back of Springsteen and The E Street Band’s Land of Hope and Dreams tour, which concluded earlier this month. Springsteen performed a 27-song set across North America in April and May of this year.
A full setlist for Springsteen’s first night on the Music America: The Songs that Shaped Us show can be found below.
- Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) (Woody Guthrie cover with Rosanne Cash)
- This Land is Your Land (Woody Guthrie cover with Kenny Chesney)
- I’m Shipping Up to Boston (Dropkick Murphys cover with Dropkick Murphys)
- American Land (Dropkick Murphys)
- When the Saints Go Marching In (with Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue)
Springsteen had not played When the Saints Go Marching In since 2014. It marks one of the many cover songs he has played in concert over the last year. At a show in Minneapolis to kickstart the Land of Hope and Dreams tour, Springsteen performed a cover of Prince’s Purple Rain and Bob Dylan’s Chimes of Freedom.
The latter song featured in all of the Land of Hope and Dreams shows on the North American tour and was eventually joined by a cover of The Clash’s Clampdown. Springsteen has covered the legendary rock band before, once playing London Calling as an opening song for his show at Hyde Park in London.
Springsteen’s 2026 North American tour came to a close earlier this month, with fans praising The Boss for one of his best performances to date.
A fan who attended the Philadelphia show took to the r/BruceSpringsteen subreddit and wrote: “Awesome show in Philly. Hungry Heart was a real highlight. I am a 47-year veteran of attending Bruce shows. I was very impressed with the crowd. It was a generation younger then Wednesdays DC show. I would like to thank Bruce and the E Street Band for putting their life on hold for this last-minute tour together.”
What did Springsteen play on the Land of Hope and Dreams tour?
Springsteen performed an average of 27 songs a night on his Land of Hope and Dreams tour. He eventually settled on the same 27 songs from night to night, with his Philadelphia setlist found below.
- War (The Temptations cover with Tom Morello)
- Born in the U.S.A. (with Tom Morello)
- Death to My Hometown (with Tom Morello)
- Clampdown (The Clash cover with Tom Morello)
- No Surrender
- Darkness on the Edge of Town
- Streets of Minneapolis
- The Promised Land
- Two Hearts
- Hungry Heart
- Youngstown
- Murder Incorporated
- American Skin (41 Shots) (with Tom Morello)
- Long Walk Home (with Tom Morello)
- House of a Thousand Guitars
- My City of Ruins
- Because the Night (Patti Smith Group cover)
- Wrecking Ball
- The Rising
- The Ghost of Tom Joad (with Tom Morello)
- Badlands (with Tom Morello)
- Land of Hope and Dreams (with Tom Morello)
- American Land (with Tom Morello)
- Born to Run
- Dancing in the Dark
- Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out (with Tom Morello)
- Chimes of Freedom (Bob Dylan cover with Tom Morello)
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