Pitchfork

Considering Bruce Springsteen is at the point in his career where he doesn't have to shill to pay the bills-- not to mention the fact that he's Bruce "stick up for the little guy" Springsteen-- his recent Wal-Mart-only Greatest Hits disc seemed like a particularly discouraging move. This is a guy who regularly regrets the demise of mom and pop America via song. Why was he helping a company that had to pay $135,540 in response to child labor law violations in 2005? Even if the disc was a shameless Super Bowl cash-in cooked-up by his withering label, Columbia, Springsteen had to sign off on it. To loyal fans, the Wal-Mart exclusive seemed like a mistake. And now Bruce agrees with them.

"We just dropped the ball on it," he told The New York Times. "It was a mistake. Our batting average is usually very good, but we missed that one. Fans will call you on that stuff, as it should be."

The part of me that remembers driving to high school blasting "Jungleland" out of my piece of shit car wants to just forgive Springsteen for the oversight. He's a busy guy. But the more cynical part of me (who, as it happens, has trouble getting through all of Working on a Dream) can't help but interpret the Wal-Mart fiasco as a bait-and-switch: bite the bullet, appease the label, work with Wal-Mart and then calm the fans with a heartfelt apology in the paper of record. I hope I'm wrong; the Wal-Mart Greatest Hits exclusive is still in stock.