The Ghost of Tom Joad guitar work and the lyrics on many of the tracks are a somber reflection of life in the mid-1990s in America and Mexico. The character of Tom Joad entered the American consciousness in John Steinbeck’s 1939 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Grapes of Wrath", set against the economic hardships of the Great Depression. This spawned a film version starring Henry Fonda, which in turn inspired folk singer Woody Guthrie to pen "The Ballad of Tom Joad". The album's release was followed by Springsteen's solo acoustic Ghost of Tom Joad Tour, which ran from 1995 to 1997 and consisted of mostly small
The Kallikak Family side of the Kallikak family included poor farmers but also school teachers, an Army Air Corps pilot, and a bank treasurer. It has been argued that the effects of malnutrition were overlooked in the Kallikak family. Goddard's peer, Davenport, even identified various forms of diseases now known to be caused by diet deficiencies as being hereditary. Another perspective has been offered that the Kallikaks almost certainly had undiagnosed fetal alcohol syndrome. In addition to poverty and malnourishment, prenatal alcohol exposure can create craniofacial and other physical anomalies that could account for their peculiar facial features. Furthermore, prenatal alcohol exposure may