CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Working on a Dream

2009 studio album by Bruce Springsteen

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 2, 2026
Entity authorityQ1416968
Source-derived summary

Working on a Dream is the sixteenth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on January 27, 2009, through Columbia Records. It topped the charts in nine countries, including the US, where it was Springsteen's ninth No. 1. "The Wrestler", which appeared as a bonus track, won a Golden Globe award. E Street Band guitarist Steve Van Zandt said that Working on a Dream completed a trilogy which started with The Rising (2002) and continued with Magic (2007), all of which were produced by Brendan O'Brien.

Background and recording

The album was officially announced, along with a track listing, on November 17, 2008. It emerged from work Springsteen and his band were doing as they completed Magic. "What Love Can Do" was written, in Springsteen's words, as a "love in the time of Bush" meditation, but felt like the start of something new rather than a candidate for Magic. Encouraged by Brendan O'Brien, Springsteen started work on a new album, and over the following week wrote "This Life," "My Lucky Day," "Life Itself," "Good Eye," and "Tomorrow Never Knows". These were recorded with the E Street Band during breaks on the Magic Tour, and, unusually for Springsteen, most were finished in just a few takes.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Working on a Dream” as 2009 studio album by Bruce Springsteen. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Working, Dream and studio.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2009, 2002, 2007, 2008—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2009. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Working, Dream and studio providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Working on a Dream”, the useful work is to connect “2009 studio album by Bruce Springsteen” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1416968. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2009, 2002, 2007 and 2008.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Working on a Dream”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Working on a Dream primary sources, Working on a Dream archive and Working research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Working on a Dream”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Working on a Dream” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.