Coming three years, and one extended court battle, after the commercial breakthrough of Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town was highly anticipated. Some attributed the album's embattled tone to Springsteen's legal troubles, but it carried on from Born to Run, in which Springsteen had first begun to view his colorful cast of characters as "losers." On Darkness, he began to see them as the working class. One song was called "Factory," and in another, "Badlands," "you" work "'neath the wheel / Till you get your facts learned." Those "facts" are that "Poor man wanna be rich / Rich man wanna be king / And a king ain't satisfied / Till he rules everything." But Springsteen's characters, some of whom he inhabited and sang for in the first person, had little and were in danger of losing even that. Their only hope for redemption lay in working harder -- "You gotta live it everyday," he sang in "Badlands," but you also, as another song noted, have to "Prove It All Night." And their only escape lay in driving. Springsteen presented these hard truths in hard rock settings, the tracks paced by powerful drumming and searing guitar solos. Though not as heavily produced as Born to Run, Darkness was given a full-bodied sound, with prominent keyboards and double-tracked vocals. Springsteen's stories were becoming less heroic, but his musical style remained grand. Yet the sound, and the conviction in his singing, added weight to songs like "Racing in the Street" and the title track, transforming the pathetic into the tragic. But despite the rock & roll fervor, Darkness was no easy listen, and it served notice that Springsteen was already willing to risk his popularity for his principles. Indeed, Darkness was not as big a seller as Born to Run. And it presaged even starker efforts, such as Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad.
I've decided that this song is Bruce at his absolute best and is, perhaps, the greatest song in existence. Its pretty much perfect, that slow organ buildup with the heavy, pounding bass line and Bruce's epic, powerful voice. And then the chorus explodes into the song with a catchy piano bit and Bruce's singing gets more and more incredible, most notably at "hear somebody call my naaaame...". A...
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i have no problem saying that this song may be on the top of my Springsteen list
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I'm in a hurry, have a lot to do today, so don't have time at the moment to do Night #2 justice. I wouldn't be me if I didn't toss something out, though. When I know people who went to one of two shows, I feel a bit of a crank if I say one show was better than the other. What if you were at the other show? So I'll say a couple of things here. First, the best show is the one you were at. We're u...
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No Funk, but this is great. The clip gets better with time. One of the best singer/songwriters alive today and he still puts on a great show. This is kinda of a timeless piece of music in my mind. Bruce in an elite group of artists that transcend time. Twenty tears from now people will still be listening to his music and be in awe. This is a pro shot/soundboard. Have a great weekend!
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This album says that life is tough, but life is not something to run away from. The answers are not just across the county line or in some far-away fantasy world; they exist in the individual. For the first time we see Springsteen embracing reality, not trying to create some fantastical universe where the guy gets the girl and they live happily ever after. I remember Bruce saying something abou...
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Springsteen Rides into MilwaukeeDetails: http://pinotblack.livejournal.com/
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i have no problem saying that this song may be on the top of my Springsteen list
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I've decided that this song is Bruce at his absolute best and is, perhaps, the greatest song in existence. Its pretty much perfect, that slow organ buildup with the heavy, pounding bass line and Bruce's epic, powerful voice. And then the chorus explodes into the song with a catchy piano bit and Bruce's singing gets more and more incredible, most notably at "hear somebody call my naaaame...". A...
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Yoni Gordon And The Goods are from Allston, MA. I used to live there
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 "Darkness on the Edge of Town")
