Loretta Lynn
This is Loretta Lynn's rendition of the 1913 hymn by George Bennard, a foundational piece of American Protestant devotional song…
redemption sacrifice faith and devotion
Bessie Smith
A direct address from the working poor to the wealthy, this 1928 blues sides a plea for economic justice with an implicit…
class inequality economic desperation war and sacrifice
Bruce Springsteen
Springsteen writes from inside the body of a firefighter climbing a burning tower on September 11, fusing physical labor,…
9/11 and collective trauma duty and physical sacrifice faith and doubt
Hank Williams
A plainspoken country waltz of heartbreak in which the narrator, abandoned by a lover after sacrificing everything for her,…
betrayal loneliness sacrifice for love
Joan Baez
A Bob Dylan composition performed here by Joan Baez, the song is a firm, almost gentle refusal of an idealized love that demands…
refusal of idealized love autonomy versus self-erasure disillusionment with romantic fantasy