The song's sunny lyric develops what
Rolling Stone called "a rare and timely moment of unabashed optimism" for Springsteen, possibly connected to the impending arrival of the
Barack Obama administration: :''I'm working on a dream,'' :
Though sometimes it feel so far away ... :''I'm working on a dream,'' :
And I know it will be mine someday. The title phrase is present in both the verses and chorus, and occurs some twenty times altogether in the song. The arrangement is mid-tempo, propelled by an acoustic guitar with organ and electric guitar washes throughout; the glossy
Brendan O'Brien production also features partly submerged "la-la" backing vocals. The instrumental break features Springsteen whistling against a bariton sax line. "Working on a Dream" was first performed during Springsteen's November 2, 2008, appearance in
Cleveland for
Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, in an acoustic performance accompanied by
Patti Scialfa. A chopped-up airing of the recorded version first appeared during the November 16
NBC Sunday Night Football broadcast at halftime. The intact "Working on a Dream" began airing on radio stations and their websites on November 21, 2008, and was made available for free download via
iTunes and the
Sony BMG website on November 24. The track entered the
UK Singles Chart at position 195 the following week. A music video appeared on some foreign sites showing the recording of the song. The song was a big hit on the American
Triple-A Charts, peaking at No. 2, blocked only by "
Get On Your Boots" by
U2. performance of the title song; the band looks on as
Clarence Clemons does the whistling break.
Hartford Civic Center, April 24, 2009. "Working on a Dream" had its first
E Street Band performance on February 1, 2009, when it was included as part of Springsteen's halftime show during
Super Bowl XLIII. This abbreviated rendition featured a full choir backing Springsteen, Scialfa, and
Steve Van Zandt delivering the vocals from a pit stage in front of the main stage. Days later, during the
Grammy Awards of 2009,
Coldplay singer
Chris Martin dropped the title phrase into the group's performance of "
Viva La Vida". When the 2009
Working on a Dream Tour began, the song became one of the surprisingly few selections from the album to be included in the show. Augmenting for the tour backing vocalists
Curtis King and Cindy Mizelle (two veterans of the
Sessions Band Tour) had a significant role to play in the vocal layering, and saxophonist
Clarence Clemons performed the whistling break in the middle of the song. Three minutes in, Springsteen inserted a modified version of this "Build a House" stage speech that had been developed during the prior
Magic Tour. ==Charts==