Springsteen will go ‘Down to the River to Pray’ on next SiriusXM DJ show

by JAY LUSTIG
springsteen down to the river to pray

Bruce Springsteen will do his next SiriusXM DJ show, June 17.

Bruce Springsteen has confirmed that he will do his next Sirius XM satellite radio DJ show June 17 at 10 a.m., and that its theme will be “Down to the River to Pray.”

That’s the name of a traditional song that dates back to the 1800s or earlier and was famously sung by Allison Krauss on the soundtrack of the 2000 movie, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” The title makes you wonder what other songs he will play. His own “The River”? (Likely.) His more obscure “Trouble River”? (Less likely.) Neil Young’s “Down by the River”? Billy Joel’s “River of Dreams”? Johnny Cash’s “Big River”?

This last one would seem likely, if not for the fact that the SiriusXM spot announcing the show features another Cash song, the apocalyptic “The Man Comes Around” (see below), in addition to Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” in the background. (Springsteen could, of course, play two Cash songs, if he wants to.)

To read transcripts of what Springsteen has said on the previous shows, and see YouTube videos of all the songs he has played, click here for April 8, here for April 24, here for May 6, here for May 20 and here for June 3. Also, click here for some of my thoughts on this ambitious series in general.

Though Springsteen is not officially on a schedule for these shows, and there won’t necessarily be any more after June 17, he has been doing them once every other week for more than two months.

The shows have lasted between 90 minutes and two hours each, and are being broadcast on SiriusXM’s E Street Radio channel (channel 20), with repeats and on-demand availability following the initial broadcast. Visit siriusxm.com.

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