After making such an iconic, masterful album as ‘Born to Run‘ (August 1975), it was always going to be a significant challenge for Bruce Springsteen in coming up with a successor equal in magnitude and magisterial sweep.
Eighteen months in the making, within weeks of release his third L.P. had already been declared in some quarters as ‘the greatest rock record ever made‘ – such acclaim coming hard on the heels of esteemed rock writer Jon Landau making his bold, far-reaching pronouncement in Rolling Stone magazine of:
‘I’ve just seen the future of rock ‘n’ roll and its called Bruce Springsteen.’
Such being the case, few who heard ‘Born to Run‘ in all its passionate, panoramic glory, felt inclined to disagree. There was undoubted momentum behind Springsteen and his E-Street Band cohorts, their dynamic concert performances providing a challenge to The Who for the title of best live act in the business, only for the bandwagon to suddenly blow a head gasket – ‘the future of rock‘ becoming embroiled in a lawsuit with soon to be ex-manager Mike Appel, that put paid to current intentions of recording a fourth album.
In the event the legal issues took almost two years to resolve, a period during which Springsteen and the E-Streeters were permitted to tour, but due to the complexities of the case not able to cut any new material. Upon resolution finally being reached Appel was out of the picture, his managerial duties having been taken up by the aforementioned Landau, who had also received a ‘Born to Run‘ production credit.
In June 1977 28-year-old, New Jersey-born Springsteen led his six-strong backing ensemble of Clarence Clemons (saxophone), Danny Federici (organ), Garry Tallent (bass), Steve Van Zandt (guitar) and Max Weinberg (drums), through round the clock sessions at Atlantic Studios in New York, designed on committing to tape many of the rumoured 50-song stockpile their leader had amassed.
But after two months of intensive recording Springsteen, who led the troupe on lead guitar and harmonica, was dissatisfied with how things were progressing and brought proceedings to a halt – moving co-producer Landau and the whole E-Street caboodle across town to The Record Plant, the studio where ‘Born to Run‘ had been completed.
Deciding to start again from scratch, time between what would constitute his next album and the one previous thus became even longer. Not that it affected the hallowed status of ‘Born to Run‘ which a section of the rock press were still writing rapturously about almost three years on, yet it also served to build-up anticipation, not to say a degree of anxiety about the follow-up.
Springsteen therefore, was in danger of being hamstrung by the hype, probably for ever, if he failed to deliver after such a long wait – the rock scene, it is worth adding, with the advent of punk, having changed noticeably in the intervening time.
What he proceeded to deliver was an album that with its punchy, assertive tone articulated all his frustration through the proceeding period, ‘DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF THE TOWN‘ (June 1978) sounding more ‘shorn of fun’ than ‘Born to Run‘.
While the change in musical approach is quickly evident, ‘Darkness‘ from the outset eschews the lush contours of its predecessor, the values within lives he focuses upon as a writer also appear different. Rather than seeking a means of escape, Springsteen looks studiously at his working class home turf to find characters who are alienated, adrift, sometimes both – or as he later described them himself when reflecting upon the record, ‘People who are going from nowhere to nowhere.’
Which is not to say the theme of ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town‘ is defeatist, Springsteen honest and by now pragmatic enough to know dreams while not so much having a sell-by date, come with their own statute of limitations.
The notion that hope comes attached to reality checks is a development in his writing, this new-found maturity to the fore on the rousing opener ‘Badlands.’
From all angles the protagonist feels life is affording him few favours, (‘I’m caught in a cross fire that I don’t understand‘), but even then defeat does not have to be accepted and with the E-Street Band in resounding form behind him, Springsteen brings defiance to the chorus:
‘Badlands, you gotta live it everyday/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.’
While the saxophone solo of Clemons provides a distinctive E-Street trademark, the soundscape is altogether tighter and hard-nosed, Springsteen likewise in the lyrics as the narrator takes a good, hard look at the world around him, (‘Poor man wanna be rich/Rich man wanna be king/And a king ain’t satisfied till he rules everything‘). Yet in acknowledging these truths still refuses to cower:
‘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, you gotta live it everyday.’
If further evidence was required the production embellishments of ‘Born to Run‘ had been dispensed with, it arrives good and proper on ‘Adam Raised a Cain‘, an angry, sobering account of a continually failing son/father relationship.
With its strident ‘I Can See for Miles‘ styled guitar inflections, Springsteen asserts himself as a guitarist in the Pete Townshend mold, the terse, frenetic playing, matched by the anguished nature of the lyrics:
‘You’re born into this life paying for the sins of somebody else’s past/Well Daddy worked his whole life for nothing but the pain/Now he walks these empty rooms looking for something to blame/But you inherit the sins, you inherit the flames.’
The most feisty performance Bruce and the E-Street boys had ever put down on record, at times they come across as a better fed version of The Clash, Springsteen having taken their 1977 self-titled debut set to his heart. Ironically, on their second album, ‘Give ‘Em Enough Rope‘ (released November 1978), the London-based punksters (they and he the two most vital rock acts of the late-70s), went for the same crisp production sound as ‘Darkness‘ – the squealing guitar solos of ‘Candy’s Room‘ coming from territory Joe Strummer and co would soon be inhabiting.
Starting with the relentless, ticking cymbals of Weinberg, the lyrics describe an infatuation with Candy, Springsteen, over understated piano chords, delivering the opening lines with Brando-like affectations. On the album cover the artist is pictured in white T-shirt and black jacket, a look not that far removed from the ‘On the Waterfront‘ persona of the actor:
‘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.’
As the song gathers pace to a point where the band (minus Clemons) are playing at full-tilt, it is clear Candy has other admirers, (‘She has fancy clothes and diamond rings/She has men who give her anything she wants‘), but this contender for her, as yet, unrequited affections, (‘She knows that I’d give all that I got to give’), refuses to be deterred. Springsteen would return to similar ground six years later with ‘I’m on Fire‘ from ‘Born in the U.S.A‘, a song with darker overtones, but less intense performance.
The main character of ‘Something in the Night‘ is driving (opposed to dancing) in the dark, looking for any form of light to penetrate the personal and geographical twilight. From the opening couplet, ‘I’m riding down Kingsley’ (Kingsley Street a throughfare in his Asbury park hometown), there is an overriding sense the driver should be contemplating his troubles from somewhere other than behind the wheel, although being in the car offers a change of scenery, if not perspective.
Showcasing a deeply affecting lead vocal and yet another sterling piano contribution from Bittan, answers are sought to the tough questions his life is asking (‘I got stuff running ’round my head‘), yet solutions remain (‘That I just can’t live down’), elusive.
Springsteen places not dissimilar conflictions in his character creation for ‘Streets of Fire‘. The overlapping piano and organ lines create the backdrop for an anguished vocal that articulates an acute sense of disconnect, (‘The weak lies and cold walls you embrace eat at your insides/And leave you face to face with/Streets of Fire‘), the angst reinforced with a raking guitar solo.
From contemplating the tribulations faced by men of roughly the same age, on ‘Factory‘ he fixes a sad-eyed gaze at an older generation, namely that of his father – whose existence is shaped (‘Early in the morning factory whistle blows/Man rises from bed and puts on his clothes’), to a large extent by the demands of daily toil:
‘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.’
On one level this solemn, piano-based affair could be taken as Springsteen making an ‘There but the for the grace of God go I‘ admission. Having written about the working man throughout his career, in latter-day interviews he readily admits to ‘Never having done a day’s work in my life‘ – although that said, it does not detract from ‘Factory‘ being an emotive piece.
The mood is more upbeat on the forceful ‘Prove It All Night‘, Springsteen affirming his belief that better days are never completely out of reach, even if it means piling hope upon hope in order to turn the corner. Using every weapon in their well-stocked armoury – thumping drums, layered keyboards, wailing sax break – the E-Street Band decorate the backdrop in their inimitable way as their leader, so often described as ‘the new Dylan‘ adopts the mid-60s sneer of the old one as he delivers the telling lines:
‘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, ah wouldn’t that be nice/But this ain’t no dream we’re living out through tonight/Ah girl you want it, you take it, you pay the price.’
Also found in a struggle to reach a place where the odds are not so stacked against fulfillment is the central figure of stirring side two opener ‘The Promised Land.’
The location has moved to the Utah desert but the same frustrations still manifest, (‘Working all day in my daddy’s garage/Driving all night chasing some mirage‘), recognition being demanded for his being and worth:
‘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.’
Once the again the appeal is not coming from someone wanting something for nothing (‘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‘), merely one asking for a fair crack of the whip (‘Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted‘), in the chance to live a fulfilled life.
Hope, however, in terms of the promise of something more edifying has all but disappeared from the lives of those who populate ‘Racing in the Street‘ – sequenced at the end of side one, this epic piano ballad with a running time of almost seven minutes, the longest track on the record.
From the mouth of the main figure comes an account of how cars are souped-up to compete in races (‘From the fire roads to the interstate‘), he and partner Sonny building their ’69 Chevvy, ‘Straight out of scratch.’
There is excitement and prize money at stake, but it still seems a shallow way to live, an abdication from the true responsibilities of life – this state of affairs not lost upon the one describing how things have panned out:
‘Now 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 racing in the street.’
Along the way love has been found, (‘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 in its wake has come despair and dismay, the woman in question diminished through all manner of circumstance:
‘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‘
At the chorus (”Cause summer’s here and the time is right for racing in the street’), Springsteen evokes the 1964 Martha Reeves and the Vandellas hit that encouraged people to take to the street and dance with joy. But his inference is far more downbeat, the prevailing discontent not lifted by driving or indeed dancing, the same grim foreboding awaits as soon as either the music stops or the engine is switched off.
To make good on the claim made by Landau that he represented the future of rock, Springsteen had drawn on the influence of great American storytellers of the past, (folk songs of Hank Williams, literature of John Steinbeck, films of John Ford), to create common, somewhat disconcerting narratives of the present – the United States, in dealing with the painful realisations and aftermath of Vietnam and Watergate, an unsettled, apprehensive land as the 1970s drew to a close.
There are troubles aplenty bedeviling the individual central to the closing title-track. Be they a broken marriage or financial worries, the only solace to be had is joining the ranks of those found occupying the shadowlands:
‘Well now some folks are born into a good life/And other folks get it anyway anyhow/Well 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’ve got/Well 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.’
All told ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town‘ is a brave, committed album, Springsteen avoiding any inclination of simply cloning his previous album to endear himself to fans and critics alike in laughing all the way to the bank. It received positive reviews and proved a hit (U.S. 5/U.K. 14), but across the board sales fell short of the figures attached to ‘Born to Run‘.
Moreover, it revealed Springsteen had the artistic integrity to plot a course that followed the right feel rather than accepted flow. Potential hit singles recorded at the ‘Darkness’ sessions such as ‘Because the Night‘ and ‘Fire‘, (which would find their way to Patti Smith and The Pointer Sisters where they enjoyed chart success), were omitted from the final cut for not fitting into his perception of what the album needed to say at that time – in much the same way he would make a sudden change of direction with records such as ‘Nebraska‘ (1982) and ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad‘ (1995) during the next two decades.
Ultimately, Springsteen would make more successful records, but none that were quite so essential. The artist, like many who appear in his tales of restlessness and sought after redemption through ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town‘ often prepared to drive that extra mile in order to find virtue and validity.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN – DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN (Released June 2 1978):
Badlands/Adam Raised a Cain/Something in the Night/Candy’s Room/Racing in the Street/The Promised Land/Factory/Streets of Fire/Prove It All Night/Darkness on the Edge of Town;
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