BADLANDS

Album's version

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
But there's one thing I know for sure girl I don't give a damn
For the same old played out scenes baby 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

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
You better get it straight darling
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
Now I believe in the love that you gave me
I believe in the faith that could save me
I believe in the hope and I pray that some day
It may raise me above these

Badlands you gotta live it every day
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price you've gotta pay
Keep pushin' till it's understood
And these badlands start treating us good
Awhoa whoa whoa whoa

Mmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmm
Mmmmmmmmm
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 every day
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price you've gotta pay
Keep movin' till it's understood
And these badlands start treating us good
Awhoa whoa whoa whoa
Badlands awhoa whoa whoa whoa
Badlands awhoa whoa whoa whoa
Badlands ahwoa whoa whoa whoa
Badlands ahwoa whoa whoa whoa
[till fade]

Recorded at The Record Plant, New York City, New York. This brilliant Darkness On The Edge Of Town album opener went through many revisions and came from several sources (see BREAKOUT). BADLANDS and THE PROMISED LAND were two of the album's masterpieces. This song remains one of Bruce's greatest songs and a strong favourite of many fans. Check also outtake version 1, outtake version 2, and the instrumental version.

Played at every show in the Darkness On The Edge Of Town tour (it was the show opener on that tour), The River tour, Born In The USA tour, and the Reunion tour. Played also during the Tunnel Of Love tour and the Human Touch tour. Absent in The Ghost Of Tom Joad tour.

Released on singles in 1978 and 1979 with SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT, STREETS OF FIRE, CANDY'S ROOM, BORN TO RUN, and others...

Liner notes by Bruce Springsteen in the Greatest Hits booklet:

This was the record, Darkness on the Edge of Town, where I figured out what I wanted to write about, the people that mattered to me, and who I wanted to be. I saw friends + family struggling to lead decent, productive lives + I felt an everyday kind of heroism in this. Still I do.