Darkness on the Edge of Town (1978)

Badlands

Lights out tonight,
Trouble in the heartland,
Got a head-on collision,
Smashin' in my guts, man,
I'm caught in a crossfire,
That I don't understand,
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 
Talk about a dream,
Try to make it real
You wake up in the night
With a fear so real, 
Spend your life waiting,
For a moment that just don't come,
Well, don't waste your time waiting,

(Chorus)
Badlands, you gotta live it every day,
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price you've gotta pay,
We'll keep pushin' till it's understood,
And these badlands start treating us 
	good

Workin' in the field 
Till you get your back burned,
Workin' `neath the wheels 
Till you get your facts learned,
Baby, I got my facts 
Learned real good right now,
Poor man wanna be rich, 
Rich man wanna be king,
And a king ain't satisfied,
Till he rules everything,
I wanna go out tonight, 
I wanna find out what I got

I believe in the love that you gave me,
I believe in the hope that can save me,
I believe in the faith
And I pray, that some day it may raise me,
Above these badlands
(Chorus)

For the ones who had a notion, 
A notion deep inside,
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
I wanna find one face that ain't looking 
	through me
I wanna find one place, 
I wanna spit in the face of these badlands
(Chorus)


Adam Raised a Cain

In the summer that I was baptized,
My father held me to his side,
As they put me to the water,
He said how on that day I cried.
We were prisoners of love, a love in 
	chains,
He was standin' in the door, I was 
	standin' in the rain,
With the same hot blood burning in our 
	veins,
Adam raised a Cain.

All of the old faces,
Ask you why you're back,
They fit you with position, 
And the keys to your daddy's Cadillac,
In the darkness of your room,
Your mother calls you by your true name,
You remember the faces, the places, the 
	names,
You know it's never over, it's relentless 
	as the rain,
Adam raised a Cain.

In the Bible Cain slew Abel 
And East of Eden he was cast
You're born into this life paying,
For the sins of somebody else's past,  
Daddy worked his whole life, for nothing 
	but the pain,
Now he walks these empty rooms, 
	looking for something to blame,
You inherit the sins, you inherit the 	
	flames,
Adam raised a Cain.

Lost but not forgotten, from the dark heart 
	of a dream,
Adam raised a Cain.


Something in the Night

I'm riding down Kingsley,
Figuring I'll get a drink
Turn the radio up loud,
So I don't have to think,
I take her to the floor,
Looking for a moment when the world 
	seems right,
And I tear into the guts,
Of something in the night.
    
You're born with nothing,
And better off that way,
Soon as you've got something they send
Someone to try and take it away,
You can ride this road 'till dawn,
Without another human being in sight,
Just kids wasted on
Something in the night.
    
Nothing is forgotten or forgiven,
when it's your last time around,
I got stuff running around 'round my head
That I just can't live down.
    
When we found the things we loved,
They were crushed and dying in the dirt.
We tried to pick up the pieces,
And get away without getting hurt,
But they caught us at the state line,
And burned our cars in one last fight,
And left us running burned and blind,
Chasing something in the night.
    

Candy's Room

In Candy's room there are pictures of her 
	heroes on the wall,
But to get to Candy's room, you gotta 
	walk the darkness of Candy's hall,
Strangers from the city, call my baby's 
	number and they bring her toys,
When I come knocking, she smiles 
	pretty, she knows I wanna be Candy's 
	boy
There's a sadness hidden in that pretty 
	face, a sadness all her own, from which 
    no man can keep Candy safe.

We kiss, my heart's pumpin' to my brain 
The blood rushes in my veins, when I 
	touch Candy's lips,
We go driving driving deep into the night,
I go driving deep into the light, in Candy's 
	eyes.

She says, Baby if you wanna be wild,
You got a lot to learn, close your eyes,
Let them melt, let them fire,
Let them burn
Cause in the darkness, there'll be hidden 
	worlds that shine,
When I hold Candy close she makes these 
	hidden worlds mine,
She has fancy clothes and diamond 
	rings
She has men who give her anything she 
	wants, but they don't see,
That what she wants is me, 

Oh, and I want her so,
I'll never let her go, no, no, no,
She knows that I'd give 
All that I got to give,
All that I want, all that I live,
To make Candy mine
Tonight


Racing in the Street

I got a sixty-nine Chevy with a 396
Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor
She's waiting tonight down in the parking 
	lot
Outside the Seven-Eleven store
Me and my partner Sonny built her 
	straight out of scratch
And he rides with me from town to town
We only run for the money, got no strings 
	attached
We shut `em up and then we shut `em 
	down

Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow `em off in my first heat
Summer's here and the time is right
For racin' in the street

We take all the action we can meet
And we cover all the northeast state
When the strip shuts down we run `em in 
	the street
From the fire roads to the interstate
Some guys they just give up living
And start dying little by little, piece by 
	piece,
Some guys come home from work and 
	wash up,
And go racin' in the street.

Tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow `em all out of their seats
Calling out around the world, we're going 
	racin' in the street.

I met her on the strip three years ago
In a Camaro with this dude from L.A.
I blew that Camaro off my back,
And drove that little girl away,
But now there's wrinkles around my 
	baby's eyes
And she cries herself to sleep at night
When I come home the house is dark
She sighs "Baby did you make it all 
	right,"         
She sits on the porch of her Daddy's 
	house
But all her pretty dreams are torn,
She stares off alone into the night
With the eyes of one who hates for just 
	being born
For all the shut down strangers and hot 
	rod angels,
Rumbling through this promised land
Tonight my baby and me, we're gonna 
	ride to the sea
And wash these sins off our hands.

Tonight, tonight the highway's bright
Out of our way, mister you best keep
`Cause summer's here and the time is 
	right
For racin' in the street


The Promised Land

On a rattlesnake speedway in the Utah 
	desert
I pick up my money and head back into 
	town
Driving cross the Waynesboro county 
	line
I got the radio on and I'm just killing time
Working all day in my daddy's garage
Driving all night chasing some mirage
Pretty soon little girl I'm gonna take 
	charge.

(Chorus)
The dogs on Main Street howl,
`Cause they understand,
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister, I ain't a boy, no, I'm a man,
And I believe in a promised land.

I've done my best to live the right way
I get up every morning and go to work 
	each day
But your eyes go blind and your blood 
	runs cold      
Sometimes I feel so weak I just want to 
	explode
Explode and tear this town apart
Take a knife and cut this pain from my 
	heart
Find somebody itching for something to 
	start
(Chorus)

There's a dark cloud rising from the 
	desert floor
I packed my bags and I'm heading 
	straight into the storm
Gonna be a twister to blow everything 
	down
That ain't got the faith to stand its ground
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your 
	heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing 
	but lost and brokenhearted   
(Chorus)
I believe in a promised land...


Factory

Early in the morning factory whistle 
	blows,
Man rises from bed and puts on his 
	clothes,
Man takes his lunch, walks out in the 
	morning light,
It's the working, the working, just the 
	working life.
    
Through the mansions of fear, through 
	the mansions of pain,
I see my daddy walking through them 
	factory gates in the rain,
Factory takes his hearing, factory gives 
	him life,
The working, the working, just the 
	working life.
    
End of the day, factory whistle cries,
Men walk through these gates with death 
	in their eyes,
And you just better believe, boy,
Somebody's gonna get hurt tonight,
It's the working, the working, just the 
	working life.
    

Streets of Fire

When the nigth's quiet and you don't care 
	anymore,
And your eyes are tired and there's someone at your door
And you realize you wanna let go
And the weak lies and the cold walls you 
	embrace
Eat at your insides and leave you face to 
	face with
Streets of fire
    
I'm wandering, a loser down these tracks
I'm dying, but girl I can't go back
'Cause in the darkness I hear somebody 
	call my name
And when you realize how they tricked 
	you this time
And it's all lies but I'm strung out on the 
	wire
In these streets of fire
    
I live now, only with strangers
I talk to only strangers
I walk with angels that have no place
Streets of fire
    

Prove It All Night

I've been working real hard, trying to get 
	my hands clean,
Tonight we'll drive that dusty road from 
	Monroe to Angeline,
To buy you a gold ring and pretty dress of 
	blue,
Baby just one kiss will get these things for 
	you,
A kiss to seal our fate tonight,
A kiss to prove it all night.

(Chorus)
Prove it all night,
Girl there's nothing else that we can do,
So prove it all night, prove it all night,
And girl I'll prove it all night for you.

Everybody's got a hunger, a hunger they 
	can't resist,
There's so much that you want, you 
	deserve much more than this,
But if dreams came true, oh, wouldn't that 
	be nice,
But this ain't no dream we're living 
	through tonight,
Girl, you want it, you take it, you pay the 
	price.

(Chorus)
Prove it all night, prove it all night girl and 
	call the bluff,
Prove it all night, prove it all night and girl,
I prove it all night for your love.

Baby, tie your hair back in a long white 
	bow,
Meet me in the fields out behind the 
	dynamo,
You hear the voices telling you not to go,
They made their choices and they'll 
	never know,
What it means to steal, to cheat, to lie,
What it's like to live and die.
(Chorus)
To prove it all night...


Darkness on the Edge of Town

They're still racing out at the Trestles,
But that blood it never burned in her 
	veins,
Now I hear she's got a house up in 
	Fairview,
And a style she's trying to maintain.
Well, if she wants to see me,
You can tell her that I'm easily found,
Tell her there's a spot out `neath Abram's 
	Bridge,
And tell her, there's a darkness on the 
	edge of town.

Everybody's got a secret, Sonny,
Something that they just can't face,
Some folks spend their whole lives trying 
	to keep it,
They carry it with them every step that 
	they take.
Till some day they just cut it loose
Cut it loose or let it drag `em down,
Where no one asks any questions,
Or looks too long in your face,
In the darkness on the edge of town.

Some folks are born into a good life,
Other folks get it anyway, anyhow,
I lost my money and I lost my wife,
Them things don't seem to matter much 
	to me now.
Tonight I'll be on that hill `cause I can't 
	stop,
I'll be on that hill with everything I got,
Lives on the line where dreams are found 
	and lost,
I'll be there on time and I'll pay the cost,
For wanting things that can only be found
In the darkness on the edge of town.


NOTES

All songs © 1978 Bruce Springateen (ASCAP) 
All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.

PRODUCED BY JON LANOAU 
AND BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

Clarence Clemons, saxophone and percussion
Danny Federici, organ
Roy Bittan, piano
Bruce Springsteen, vocals, lead guitar and harmonica
Garry Tallent, bass
Steve Van Zandt, guitar
Max Weinberg, drums

Productjon Assistance: Stave Van Zandt
Recorded by Jimmy Iovine
Mixed by Charles Plotkin and Jimmy Iovine

Assistant Engineer: Thom Panunzio
Recorded and mixed at the
Record Plant, N.Y.C.
Mastered by Mike Reese,
Mastering Lab, L.A., Calif

Photography: Frank Stefanko 
Thanks to Mike Batlan, 
Bob Chirmside, Doug Sutphin

Thanks to Charlea Plotkin 
for his asaiatance in the completion 
of this album