One of the interesting aspects of the movie Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (2025) is how it shows the close relationship between Bruce Springsteen, played by Jeremy Allen White, and his manager Jon Landau, played by Jeremy Strong. In one touching scene where Springsteen is at a low point, Landau says he has a song to play for Springsteen. He puts on “Last Mile of the Way” as the two men sit and Springsteen enjoys a rare quiet moment of comfort and peace.
Longtime Springsteen fans know about the role Landau has played in Springsteen’s life. First, as a rock critic he famously proclaimed Springsteen as the future of rock and roll: “I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen. And on a night when I needed to feel young, he made me feel like I was hearing music for the very first time.”
But more importantly, in addition to eventually becoming Springsteen’s manager and co-producer, he also became a close friend that helped inspire Springsteen by sharing influences from music, literature, films, and elsewhere.
Deliver Me from Nowhere gives little background about Landau beyond the close relationship he has with Springsteen, always supporting his friend. It is a rare illustration of a close adult male friendship on screen. Landau is the opposite of the portrayal of Elvis Presley’s manager Colonel Tom Parker portrayed by Tom Hanks in the 2022 film Elvis. Landau’s and Springsteen’s close bond is highlighted in the moment they sit and listen to Sam Cooke singing “Last Mile of the Way” from when he was with the gospel group The Soul Stirrers.
Origins of “Last Mile of the Way”
While the song is a gospel tune, in the context of the film, a troubled or depressed soul might find inspiration to just keep going in the hope of better times ahead.
When I’ve gone the last mile of the way,
I will rest at the close of the day,
And I know there are joys that await me
When I’ve gone the last mile of the way.
“Last Mile of the Way” is the oldest song in the Springsteen movie. Johnson Oatman, Jr., who lived from 1856-1922, wrote “Last Mile of the Way,” which was published in 1908. Oatman, like Springsteen, spent most of his life in New Jersey. From a young age he had a license to preach the Gospel and was ordained. Although sometimes serving as a local preacher, he had a more secular career too. For awhile he was in the mercantile business at Lumberton, N. J. And after his father died, he went into the life insurance business in Mt. Holly, N. J. (about 30 miles from where Springsteen would be born), where he lived with his wife and three children. Oatman also found time to write music, reportedly writing more than three thousand hymns, including “Last Mile of the Way.”
Sam Cooke & Bruce Springsteen
Before Sam Cooke became a pop star, he found success as part of the gospel group The Soul Stirrers. He served as the main lead singer of the group from 1950-1957. On August 17, 1955, Cooke and The Soul Stirrers recorded “Last Mile of the Way,” with arrangements by Cooke. It’s unclear to me whether the song was released while Cooke was alive, but the song would be released as a single in 1970 with “Must Jesus Bear The Cross Alone” as the B-side. This 1970 release features posthumous overdubs and appears to be the version played by Landau in Deliver Me From Nowhere.
Cooke, of course, would go on to find pop success with songs like “You Send Me,” “A Change Is Gonna Come,” “Another Saturday Night,” and “Twistin’ the Night Away.” Unlike Springsteen, Cooke died at a young age. He was 33 when he was shot and killed in a confusing violent act in 1964 around the time Springsteen would have been 15.
During his career, Springsteen has performed Sam Cooke’s songs such as “A Change Is Gonna Come” and “Another Saturday Night.” Also, Cooke’s “Mary’s Place” may have inspired Springsteen’s “Meet Me at Mary’s Place” from The Rising album. Springsteen has also jokingly referred to Cooke as “the other sexiest man that ever lived,” while he has also praised Cooke’s work with The Soul Stirrers. He has referred to Cooke’s “miraculous voice” during that era, “when he was at his most youthful, and maybe at his best.”
The music Cooke made with The Soul Stirrers of course lives on and still can provide solace and comfort for those who find it in the music, as illustrated in Deliver Me from Nowhere.
Bonus Another Key Non-Springsteen Song in Deliver Me from Nowhere: The soundtrack for Deliver Me from Nowhere features some other non-Springsteen songs, often playing in the background. Another one that stands out is Suicide’s “Frankie Teardrop,” which Springsteen listens to in his rented house while lying on the floor. As recounted in the book that is the source for the movie, Warren Zanes’ Deliver Me from Nowhere, Springsteen was a fan and early supporter of the band Suicide and lead singer Alan Vega. “Frankie Teardrop,” which appeared on Suicide’s first album in 1977, clocks in at over ten minutes and is about a troubled factory worker who murders his family and then commits suicide.
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(2005), the song that best summed up the mood of the album was recorded at the end of an evening, “Lost and Lookin’.” Cooke’s voice in the minor-key number faces the world alone, accompanied only by bass and the cymbals on the drum set.
