A poignant narrative about loss, resilience, and the emotional aftermath of war. The song centers on a woman reflecting on her life after her partner – presumably a soldier – has gone missing or died, leaving her to raise their child alone.
The lyrics are deeply emotional, touching on themes of loneliness, memory, and the quiet strength of everyday people.
Artist: Bruce Springsteen
Genre: Folk rock / Americana
Length: Approximately 3 minutes, 15 seconds.
The Tracks take was recorded at The Power Station in New York City on May 5, 1982.Probably during the prolific Born in the U.S.A. sessions but didn’t make the final album cut.
Musicians: Bruce Springsteen (vocals, guitar),
Clarence Clemons (percussion, saxophone),
Max Weinberg (drums), Danny Federici (Glockenspiel, organ), Roy Bittan (keyboards, piano), and Garry Tallent (bass).
Producers: Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, and Steven Van Zandt.
Tracks is a 4-CD box set compiling unreleased songs, B-sides, and outtakes from Springsteen’s career. A Good Man Is Hard to Find (Pittsburgh) was one of the standout previously unreleased tracks, offering fans a glimpse into the more introspective side of his songwriting during the early ’80s.
In the quiet corners of loss and memory, Springsteen finds the strength of those left behind—where love lingers, even when the good men are gone.
A Good Man Is Hard To Find (Pittsburgh)
It’s cloudy out in Pittsburgh
It’s raining in Saigon
Snow’s fallin’ all across the Michigan line
Well she sits by the lights of the Christmas tree
With the radio softly on
Thinkin’ how a good man is so hard to find
Well once she had a fella
Once she was somebody’s girl
And she gave all she had that one last time
Now there’s a little girl asleep in the back room
She’s gonna have to tell about the meanness in this world
And how a good man is so hard to find
Well there’s pictures on the table by her bed
him in his dress greens and her in her wedding white
She remembers how the world was the day he left
And now how that world is dead
And a good man is so hard to find
She got time now for Casanovas
Yeah those days are gone
She don’t want that anymore, she’s made up her mind
just somebody told her
As the nights get on
When a good man is so hard to find
Well she shuts off the TV
And without a word
Into bed she climbs
Well she thinks how it was all so wasted
And how expendable their dreams all were
When a good man was so hard to find
Well it’s cloudy out in Pittsburgh