BADLANDS

Album 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
Well 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

[guitar instrumental]
[saxophone instrumental]

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
Badlands, ahwoa whoa whoa whoa
Badlands...
[till fade]

Page last updated: 29 May 2011

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Intro

BADLANDS is a song written by Bruce Springsteen. It is the opening track on his 1978 album Darkness On The edge Of Town, and the album's second single.

The above lyrics are transcribed from the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album version of BADLANDS. It was also included in 1995 on the Greatest Hits (1995 edition) compilation album, in 2003 on The Essential Bruce Springsteen compilation album, and in 2009 on the Greatest Hits (both the 2009 U.S. edition and the 2009 European edition) compilation album.

Composition and Recording

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Circulating Studio Versions

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Darkness On The Edge Of Town

Despite the marvelous reception received by both Born To Run and the tour which followed, the relationship between Bruce Springsteen and his now former manager and producer Mike Appel was deteriorating. In July 1976 the storm broke; Mike Appel wrote to Springsteen saying that he would not allow Jon Landau (Springsteen's friend and co-producer of Born To Run) to produce the next album, citing a particular paragraph from their original agreement. Bruce replied on 27 Jul 1976 by firing manager Mike Appel and suing him and his management company Laurel Canyon Ltd. in Federal Court in Manhattan, claiming fraud, breach of trust, and undue influence. Appel countersued on 29 Jul 1976 in New York State Supreme Court, asking the court to prohibit Springsteen and Jon Landau from working together in studio. Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band were slated to enter the studio that year for the recording of a new album, except that on 15 Sep 1976 the judge in the lawsuits case ruled that Springsteen was enjoined from any further recording with Columbia Records until Appel's suit was resolved. This would drag for about a year.

Meanwhile, Springsteen continued gigging, and in the process broke his self-imposed rule of not playing the larger arenas. This was basically because he was not able to put a record out, and it was the only way his fans would be able to hear him at all.

Springsteen reached a final settlement in his yearlong litigation with Mike Appel on 28 May 1977. Effectively this meant that for the first time in a year Springsteen was able to go into a studio and record. The Darkness On The Edge Of Town recording sessions kicked off in early June 1977 at Atlantic Record Studios, New York City, NY. Springsteen had a considerable amount of new material, but the songs were in various stages of writing completion. Consequently many of the songs were shaped over the course of numerous sessions spanning several months.

The sessions at Atlantic Studios were only two or three weeks old when problems surfaced. Springsteen didn't like the sound he was getting from the studio, particularly the drums. On top of that Atlantic Studios did not offer a particularly comfortable or livable environment for the musicians. A decision was taken to shift operations to the nearby Record Plant where most of the Born To Run album had been recorded. However financial commitments to Atlantic Studios were already made, and on such short notice it was hard to find un-booked studio time at the popular Record Plant. Consequently the Jul-Aug 1977 period saw Springsteen and the band recording at both studios, but mostly Atlantic Studios. From September to late December, all the recording seems to have taken place at The Record Plant, where all the recordings issued on the original album emanate from.

The actual recording sessions for Darkness On The Edge Of Town were completed by early January 1978. The mixing sessions began in early January 1978 and dragged on until late March. There was a tremendous amount of different mixes considered, with Springsteen changing his mind on the mix of THE PROMISED LAND as late as early April.

Darkness On The Edge Of Town was released on Columbia Records on 02 Jun 1978. It was produced by Bruce Springsteen and Jon Landau.

The album features 10 new Springsteen compositions and clocks at 42:55.

Greatest Hits 1995 Edition

Greatest Hits is Bruce Springsteen's first compilation album. It is a collection of some of his hit singles and popular album tracks. Some of these songs on Greatest Hits are shorter versions of the original album releases. The compilation also included four previously unreleased songs, three of which were recorded with the E Street Band in 1995. These three numbers constituted Springsteen's first release with the band since the late eighties.

Springsteen recorded an unreleased album in 1994, but his manager Jon Landau wasn't a fan of the project and recommended shelving it and focusing more on a "career overview"; this lead to the Greatest Hits sessions with the E Street Band in 1995. Springsteen called the band in early January 1995, and they assembled for the recording sessions on 09 Jan 1995 at the Hit Factory in New York City, NY. This was their first studio reunion in 11 years (since the Born In The USA sessions) and their first ever with Nils Lofgren.

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Greatest Hits was released 27 Feb 1995 on Columbia Records. It was commercially successful, peaking at #1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 (where it stayed on the chart for 32 weeks), the UK Album Chart, the Australian ARIA Albums Chart, and the Swedish Albums Chart. In 2008, the compilations had sold more than four million copies in the U.S.

The Essential Bruce Springsteen

The Essential Bruce Springsteen is a compilation album released on 11 November 2003 on Columbia Records. It's part of a series of "Essential" sets released by Sony BMG (previously Sony Music Entertainment). Per liner notes comments by Springsteen, the collection was intended as an introduction to his music for new fans who attended shows on The Rising Tour; hence, it includes songs from every Springsteen album since his debut. The album was available as a 2-disc set (which clocks at 153:23) and as a limited edition 3-disc set (which clocks at 200:45). For the latter, the third disc contained a selection of rarities and previously unreleased recordings.

The Essential Bruce Springsteen debuted and peaked at #14 on the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart where it spent 13 weeks. The album was awarded certified gold and platinum records by the RIAA on 16 Dec 2003. The Essential Bruce Springsteen also reached #28 on the UK Albums Chart.

[Click here to display/hide detailed track listing]

Greatest Hits 2009 Edition

Greatest Hits (2009 edition) is a compilation album released by Columbia Records on 13 Jan 2009 in the U.S. where it was sold exclusively through Wal-Mart retailers. The album was also released (but non-exclusively) in Canada. Unlike the 1995 Greatest Hits release and The Essential Bruce Springsteen in 2003, this compilation was billed to "Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band" instead of just "Bruce Springsteen". The album contains 12 previously released studio tracks and clocks at 53:08.

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On 01 Jun 2009, Columbia Records released a European edition of the compilation album with an alternative track listing to promote Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band's European leg of the Working On A Dream Tour. The European edition was also released in Israel and Mexico. The album comes in a standard jewel case, but a limited digipack edition was also released in Europe. Greatest Hits (2009 European edition) contains 16 previously released studio tracks and 2 live bonus tracks taken from the Live/1975-85 box set. It clocks at 79:03.

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The album charted in several countries, but only made it to # 1 in Sweden. In general, the album did much better in Europe than in North America.

Other Official Releases

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Live History -- 1970's

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Live History -- 1980's

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Live History -- 1990's

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Live History -- 2000's

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Covers

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Available Versions

List of available versions of BADLANDS on this website:

• Album version
• Outtake version #1
• Outtake version #2
• Instrumental take
• Live 09 Mar 2012 version

References

Some of the above info about the studio recording and the live performances is taken from Brucebase. Scans and info for the some of the above official Springsteen releases are taken from the Lost In The Flood website.