This song is about the meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in 1979. At the time, there was a great deal of debate over the use of nuclear energy, as it presented safety and environmental concerns.
This was the first song recorded during sessions for The River, but Springsteen decided not to use it on the album. Even though it was recorded in 1979, it was not released until 1988 as the B-side of "One Step Up." It resurfaced on the 1998 album Tracks, a collection of Springsteen outtakes.
