“There’s a New World Coming”: The Eschatology of Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball

The economic realities facing the characters on Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball (2012) are so dire that many would rather anticipate a new world order in which society is transformed through humanity’s efforts than continue living in the world as it is. Avoiding apocalyptic language, the new world presented in “Jack of All Trades,” “Rocky Ground,” and other songs closely resembles the eschatological wish famously described in the Pater Noster, or the Lord’s Prayer. This article explores the present-day fears and the future-oriented optimisms underlying these eschatological wishes, including when Springsteen’s vision parallels and departs from Jesus’s Kingdom of Heaven.