I get a new turntable and dust off some old records. Vinyl Tap #13:
Not to detract from the expansive, all-embracing ambition of The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle or the often-breathtaking magnificence and revelatory grandeur of Born to Run, but Bruce Springsteen's fourth release, Darkness at the Edge of Town, stands the test of time for me as his best album musically and lyrically.
The escapist romanticism of Born to Run, where “It’s a town full of losers / We’re pulling out of here to win,“ is enthralling and full of longing you can almost touch. But, in addition to the encouraging artistic sign that Springsteen wasn't releasing “Re-born to Re-run”, I ultimately embraced the grittier realism that marks the darkness of the town left behind, nestled in a bleakness “where no one asks any questions, or looks too long in your face.”
After all, there may be a surprise or two lurking in the shadows, as reflected by "In Candy’s Room,” wherein Springsteen sings “in the darkness there’ll be hidden worlds that shine," and, in the title song, where he’ll gladly pay the cost “for wanting things that can only be found / In the darkness on the edge of town.”
Three years after the 1975 Born To Run classic in which he contended “I want to guard your dreams and visions,” Springsteen shatters those kind of hopeful, almost precious dreams as he revisits in Darkness, his roots, in effect coming back home. Indeed, in addition to its many metaphors of darkness and defeat, the album is permeated with considerable references and allusions to broken dreams or the futility of blind expectation. In the Spector-esque Wall of Born-to-Run, “Prove It All Night" (Big Man!), you can hope for the fat chance, but best prepare for facing facts: “If dreams came true, oh wouldn’t that be nice / But this ain’t no dream…"
The powerful one-two counterpunch that begins Darkness, “Badlands” and “Adam Raised A Cain,” comprises a give-and-take of will and fate. In a resolute “Badlands,” Springsteen almost sounds like he, indeed, “Got a head-on collision / Smashin’ in my guts, man.” Regardless, he’s a man on a perhaps overzealous mission to “spit in the face of these Badlands” and set things right.
I don’t give a damn for the same old played out scenes
I don’t give a damn for just the in-betweens.
Honey I want the heart, I want the soul, I want control right now.
You better listen to me baby:
Talk about a dream, try to make it real.
You wake up in the night with a fear so real.
You spend your life waiting for a moment that just don’t come.
Well don’t waste your time waiting…
“Talk about a dream, try to make it real.” No assurances here, not even with the emotively restorative insistence that “It ain’t no sin to be glad you’re alive.” You can be sure that that kind of positive outlook is nowhere to be found amid the anguished and propulsive call-and-response passion of the next song, “Adam Raised A Cain,” driven by Springsteen’s vocal fury and stinging and searing guitar work. Fate intervenes, belying the willfulness of “Badlands,” and caps it off with mention of a more insidious variety of dream, one more in line with the title song’s evoking of “Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost”:
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - DJRadiohead
Well done, Gordon. I am just a little disappointed you forgot to mention God's favorite song, "The Promised Land." It's in Leviticus. Check that out.
2 - Rodney Welch
Darkness is Springsteen's Look Back in Anger, and the record is almost relentlessly fiery. Springsteen said at the time of the record's release that he didn't think it was really all that dark, and that he tried to put some sense of redemption on the "four corners of the album" -- meaning the first and last songs on Side One and Side Two of the LP. But as the lyrics you cite point out, this is redemption in a very Old Testament sense -- "a twister to blow everything down/That ain't got the faith to stand its ground." Some make it, some won't. All will not be saved. That's life.
3 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
DJ--thanks for the comment. But I not only mentioned "The Promised Land," the conclusion and ending blockquote is based on it (my piece got a little re-structured in editing, so it's not as prominent as it was intended)
4 - Mark Saleski
great job gordon. it's tough to pick a favorite among the early Springsteen records (mostly because they're so different), but i go back to Darkness often.
5 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Thanks also Mark and Rodney--one angle I originally was going to pursue was that the songs from this album, especially the ones cited, were always concert highlights (I've seen him about six or seven times)--even up there with "10th Avenue," "Born to Run," "Rosalita," "Thunder Road."
6 - Mark Saleski
no doubt. one of the boston shows i saw a while back started with "Adam Raised A Cain". Bruce, Steve and Nils stood facing the amps near Max's drum riser....creating a rising tide of feedback. then...boom! the launch into "Adam".
gawd, it was beautiful.
7 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Oh--and then there was that time during "Dancing in the Dark," when he pulled me up on stage... oh, wait...
8 - Mark Saleski
dang, you were really cute back then!! ;-)
9 - lori
one of the boston shows i saw a while back started with "Adam Raised A Cain".
In the Fleet Center? I was at that show, too! I thought my head was going to explode when he opened with that song.
10 - Mark Saleski
yep, the fleet! it was a glorious evening.
11 - DJRadiohead
Gordon, my mistake. You certainly did and I did just fly right over it. Well done, sir. Yes. Very well done indeed.
12 - lori
Mark, I was in the lower deck right behind the stage. Bruce gave us a lot of attention. Fantastic show!
13 - Mark Saleski
i was on the left side of the arena, only about 5 rows back from the floor, right near the front of the floor soundbooth. for The Rising tour, we had general admission on the floor.
14 - Sean
Darkness is my favorite Springsteen album. He had gone through so much crap since Born to Run was released, and I think he was listening to the early waves of punk rock, which gave the music an edge. also, none of these songs had been written and/or performed with David Sancious, so there was no jazz sensibility brought to the table like on the earlier records. He just exploded with this album.
15 - Laser
My favourite CD too.
New photo posted at Foryoubruce.com from Darkness Tour on Gallery page.
16 - lori
I sat in the second row (but my ticket said 12th -- imagine my happy surprise to find out the first ten rows didn't exist!) on the left side on another night on that tour. Just a little too far back to reach Clarence. We saw the sound guys get into an argument and watched Clarence laugh at them. :-)
I have also been a pit rat! Was in the pit at the Meadowlands on the Rising tour! Now, *that* was freakin' amazing. I dehydrated myself all day so I wouldn't have to pee during the show and leave for even a second.
17 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Lori, Sean and Laser--thanks for the comments, and the Foryoubruce. Also, I had never considered the David Sancious influence--good point.
18 - Glen Boyd
I've got a killer soundboard CD from that Boston show that kicked off with "Adam." That was definitely a great show. Great setlist all the way around that night.
Darkness is probably my favorite Bruce record, and the tour behind that album is, for my money anyway, undeniably when he was doing the best shows of his career. I go back to "The River" a lot too though. "The Price You Pay" and "Stolen Car" are two of the really great unappreciated Bruce songs In my opinion.
Good article Gordon.
-Glen
19 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Thanks Glen--yeah, "The River" is a treasure trove of great, varied songs. And "Out in the Streets" lends itself for a stellar live version.
I don't have anything as special as your soundboard CD, but I do have a great reel-to-reel recording (from a radio simulcast) of an L.A. Roxy show, about the time of Born to Run. It starts with the slow version of "Thunder Road"--great tension builder. Unfortunately, I don't have a reel-to-reel player anymore, but I think I may have just convinced myself to seek one out...l
20 - marti mobile AL
I enjoyed reading your article and comments. I'd like to see more sites on Bruce. I just saw him in New Orleans at the Jazz Festival & it was literally a life-changing experience.
When he sang "My City of Ruins" there were so many tears, so much healing.
Marti
21 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
marti--thanks for the comment. There's no doubt that seeing Springsteen live has an impact. I've dragged along to his shows friends--almost against their wills--who swear they couldn't be fans. They leave as awe-struck firm believers. 'Nuff said.
22 - Vinny
Hey Bruce Springsteen Sucks!
Somebody argue why he is so good or original.
23 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Hey Vinny--there's a famous Louis Armstrong quote that comes to mind, but I bet you don't know that either.
24 - Vinny
Gordon are you kidding me I'm supposed to know the whole libary of Louis Armstrong quotes don't try that Jazz loophole.
How can you respect a man that made poppy peices of crap like "Dancing in the Dark" and now he's trying to pass himself off as some New York folk singer from the 60's. You ever hear Springsteen talk that's a whole lot of hot air. People think Springsteen is a brilliant lyricist but he just says stuff that doesn't make sense.
25 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
Not to a moronic dumbshit like you, Vinny. The fact that Spingsteen succesfully and unpretentiously articulates what many feel is a large part of his appeal.
Oh, and "If your have to ask, you'll never know" about that appeal.