Bruce played the song 63 times:

 

It was not released on the album" the Seeger Sessions" but it was a steady song during the Seeger Sessions Tour. The songs was released on the Live In Dublin album and home video. At the end of the Seeger Sessions Tour, the three-night stand at Point Theater in Dublin, Ireland, (17-18-19 Nov 2006) was filmed with nine High Definition cameras. A selection of 23 songs from these three nights was officially released on 05 Jun 2007 on the Live In Dublin album and home video, credited to "Bruce Springsteen With The Sessions Band". "Seeger" was dropped from the band's name for this release, apparently due to the fact that many of the songs are Springsteen originals from his earlier records, or covers that are not related to Pete Seeger. The song was performed in duetting Springsteen / Marc Anthony Thompson. 

 

 

 

Intro to the song :

 

"... this is a song that we, uh, we learned as we went into New Orleans, it was kind of the theme song of the city and, uh, like I said, I´ve been telling folks every night, we play it with some trepidation, uh….and, but there´s a few verses that I, that I discovered in, in a, a book that I had, that I hadn´t heard sung very often, really kind of opened this song up for me and actually the Weavers sing it on their version but there was a (some people cheer) yes, we got some Weavers´ fans….but, uh….this kind of, I guess those verses really kind of explain, uh, what we´re trying to do up here tonight and, uh, so I wanna send this one out to you saying thanks, God bless for coming out, thank you very kindly…." 

 

 

Bruce performed the song 63 times: 

 

 

2014-05-03 New Orleans Fairgrounds, New Orleans, LA
2012-04-29 New Orleans Fairgrounds, New Orleans, LA
2009-05-03 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
2006-11-21 Odyssey Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland
2006-11-19 Point Theatre (The), Dublin, Ireland
2006-11-18 Point Theatre (The), Dublin, Ireland
2006-11-17 Point Theatre (The), Dublin, Ireland
2006-11-14 Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield, England
2006-11-12 Wembley Arena, London, England
2006-11-11 Wembley Arena, London, England
2006-11-09 NEC Arena, Birmingham, England
2006-11-07 Sportpaleis, Antwerp, Belgium
2006-11-06 Kölnarena, Cologne, Germany
2006-10-30 Globen, Stockholm, Sweden
2006-10-29 Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, Norway
2006-10-28 Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark
2006-10-25 Pabellón Deportivo, Santander, Spain
2006-10-24 Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain
2006-10-22 Plaza De Toros De Granada, Granada, Spain
2006-10-21 Estadi Ciutat De València, València, Spain
2006-10-19 Plaza De Toros De Las Ventas, Madrid, Spain
2006-10-13 Sportpaleis Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2006-10-12 Color Line Arena, Hamburg, Germany
2006-10-10 PalaLottomatica, Rome, Italy
2006-10-08 PalaMaggiò, Caserta, Italy
2006-10-07 Arena Santa Giuliana, Perugia, Italy
2006-10-05 Arena Di Verona, Verona, Italy
2006-10-04 Villa Manin, Udine, Italy
2006-10-02 PalaIsozaki, Turin, Italy
2006-10-01 PalaMalaguti, Bologna, Italy
2006-06-25 PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
2006-06-24 PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ
2006-06-22 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
2006-06-20 Tweeter Center At The Waterfront, Camden, NJ
2006-06-19 Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
2006-06-17 DTE Energy Music Theatre, Clarkston, MI
2006-06-16 Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH
2006-06-14 Bradley Center, Milwaukee, WI
2006-06-13 First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Tinley Park, IL
2006-06-11 Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul, MN
2006-06-10 Wells Fargo Arena, Des Moines, IA
2006-06-06 Sleep Train Pavilion, Concord, CA
2006-06-05 Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
2006-06-03 Glendale Arena, Glendale, AZ
2006-05-31 Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, IN
2006-05-30 Germain Amphitheater, Columbus, OH
2006-05-28 Nissan Pavilion, Bristow, VA
2006-05-27 Tweeter Center For The Performing Arts, Mansfield, MA
2006-05-21 Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden
2006-05-20 Oslo Spektrum, Oslo, Norway
2006-05-17 Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany
2006-05-16 Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
2006-05-14 Pavelló Olímpic De Badalona, Barcelona, Spain
2006-05-12 DatchForum, Milan, Italy
2006-05-10 Palais Omnisports De Paris-Bercy, Paris, France
2006-05-08 Hammersmith Apollo, London, England
2006-05-07 Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester, England
2006-05-05 Point Theatre (The), Dublin, Ireland
2006-04-30 New Orleans Fairgrounds, New Orleans, LA
2006-04-25 Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ
2006-04-25 Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ
2006-04-24 Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ
2006-04-20 Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ 

 

"When the Saints Go Marching In", often referred to as "The Saints", is a Black spiritual. Though it originated as a Christian hymn, it is often played by jazz bands. This song was famously recorded on May 13, 1938, by Louis Armstrong and his orchestra. The song is sometimes confused with a similarly titled composition "When the Saints Are Marching In" from 1896 by Katharine Purvis (lyrics) and James Milton Black (music). The origins of this song are unclear. It apparently evolved in the early 1900s from a number of similarly titled gospel songs, including "When the Saints Are Marching In" (1896) and "When the Saints March In for Crowning" (1908). The first known recorded version was in 1923 by the Paramount Jubilee Singers on Paramount 12073. Although the title given on the label is "When All the Saints Come Marching In", the group sings the modern lyrics beginning with "When the saints go marching in". No author is shown on the label. Several other gospel versions were recorded in the 1920s, with slightly varying titles but using the same lyrics, including versions by The Four Harmony Kings (1924), Elkins-Payne Jubilee Singers (1924), Wheat Street Female Quartet (1925), Bo Weavil Jackson (1926), Deaconess Alexander (1926), Rev. E. D. Campbell (1927), Robert Hicks (AKA Barbecue Bob, 1927), Blind Willie Davis (1928), and the Pace Jubilee Singers (1928. The earliest versions were slow and stately, but as time passed the recordings became more rhythmic, including a distinctly uptempo version by the Sanctified Singers on British Parlophone in 1931. Even though the song had folk roots, a number of composers claimed copyright in it in later years, including Luther G. Presley and Virgil Oliver Stamps, R. E. Winsett, and Frank and Jim McCravy. Although the song is still heard as a slow spiritual number, since the mid-20th century it has been more commonly performed as a "hot" number. The tune is particularly associated with the city of New Orleans. A jazz standard, it has been recorded by a great many jazz and pop artists. Both vocal and instrumental renditions of the song abound. Louis Armstrong was one of the first to make the tune into a nationally known pop melody in the late 1930s. Armstrong wrote that his sister told him she thought the secular performance style of the traditional church tune was inappropriate and irreligious. Armstrong was in a New Orleans tradition of turning church numbers into brass band and dance. 

 

 

 

Pete Seeger recorded the song with the weavers :

 

The Weavers were formed in November 1948 by Ronnie Gilbert, Lee Hays, Fred Hellerman, and Pete Seeger. In 1940 and 1941, Hays and Seeger had co-founded a previous group, the Almanac Singers, which had promoted peace and isolationism during the Second World War, working with the American Peace Mobilization. It featured many songs opposing entry into the war by the U.S. In June 1941, the same month Germany invaded the Soviet Union, the APC changed its name to the American People's Committee and altered its focus to supporting U.S. entry into the war. The Almanacs supported the change and produced many pro-war songs urging the U.S. to fight on the side of the Allies. The group disbanded after the U.S. entered the war. 

 

 

"As Pete and I traveled to Washington for President Obama's Inaugural Celebration, he told me the entire story of "We Shall Overcome". How it moved from a labor movement song and with Pete's inspiration had been adapted by the civil rights movement. That day as we sang "This Land Is Your Land" I looked at Pete, the first black president of the United States was seated to his right, and I thought of the incredible journey that Pete had taken. My own growing up in the sixties in towns scarred by race rioting made that moment nearly unbelievable and Pete had thirty extra years of struggle and real activism on his belt. He was ao happy that day, it was like, Pete, you outlasted the bastards, man!...It was so nice. At rehearsals the day before, it was freezing, like fifteen degrees and Pete was there; he had his flannel shirt on. I said, man, you better wear something besides that flannel shirt! He says, yeah, I got my longjohns on under this thing. And I asked him how he wanted to approach "This Land Is Your Land". It would be near the end of the show and all he said was, "Well, I know I want to sing all the verses, I want to sing all the ones that Woody wrote, especially the two that get left out, about private property and the relief office." I thought, of course, that's what Pete's done his whole life. He sings all the verses all the time, especially the ones that we'd like to leave out of our history as a people. At some point Pete Seeger decided he'd be a walking, singing reminder of all of America's history. He'd be a living archive of America's music and conscience, a testament of the power of song and culture to nudge history along, to push American events towards more humane and justified ends. He would have the audacity and the courage to sing in the voice of the people, and despite Pete's somewhat benign, grandfatherly appearance, he is a creature of a stubborn, defiant, and nasty optimism. Inside him he carries a steely toughness that belies that grandfatherly facade and it won't let him take a step back from the things he believes in. At 90, he remains a stealth dagger through the heart of our country's illusions about itself. Pete Seeger still sings all the verses all the time, and he reminds us of our immense failures as well as shining a light toward our better angels and the horizon where the country we've imagined and hold dear we hope awaits us. Now on top of it, he never wears it on his sleeve. He has become comfortable and casual in this immense role. He's funny and very eccentric. I'm gonna bring Tommy out, and the song Tommy Morello and I are about to sing I wrote in the mid-nineties and it started as a conversation I was having with myself. It was an attempt to regain my own moorings. Its last verse is the beautiful speech that Tom Joad whispers to his mother at the end of The Grapes of Wrath."

'Wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight 'gainst the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me Mom I'll be there'

"Well, Pete has always been there. For me that speech is always aspirational. For Pete, it's simply been a way of life. The singer in my song is in search of the ghost of Tom Joad. The spirit who has the guts and toughness to carry forth, to fight for and live their ideals. I'm happy to report that spirit, the very ghost of Tom Joad is with us in the flesh tonight. He'll be on this stage momentarily, he's gonna look an awful lot like your granddad who wears flannel shirts and funny hats. He's gonna look like your granddad if your granddad could kick your ass. ..

This is for Pete... "