DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN

Album version

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
There's a darkness on the edge of town

Well 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
In the darkness on the edge of town

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
In the darkness on the edge of town

Published on the Darkness On The Edge Of Town album at the last minute to take the place of DON'T LOOK BACK. Played on each tour (except Human Rights Now!) from Darkness On The Edge Of Town on. Regular inclusion during The Ghost Of To Joad tour and quite a stand-point in Darkness On The Edge Of Town and The River tours. This is the album version. Check also the outtake version.

Included on singles in 1981 and 1996 with HUNGRY HEART, I'M A ROCKER, BORN TO RUN, THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD, STRAIGHT TIME (live), SINALOA COWBOYS (live), MISSING, BORN IN THE USA (live), and SPARE PARTS (live). Also included in a live version (live at Madison Square Garden) on the Waitin' On A Sunny Day [enhanced] Australian single with WAITIN' ON A SUNNY DAY, BORN TO RUN (live), and THUNDER ROAD (live).

* Sometimes, in Live shows: "You can drive all night long, and never make it ???" as on 15 Dec 1978 at Winterland, San Francisco, or "You can drive all night without even ???" as on 30 Sep 1978 at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, Georgia.

** Sometimes in live shows: "Yeah I lost my money and then I lost my wife" as on 31 Dec 1980 at the Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, or "And I lost my faith when I lost my wife" as on 10 Jul 1992 at Wembley Arena, London.

Available on:

1. Darkness On The Edge Of Town (track 10)
2. The Essential Bruce Springsteen (disc 1- track 10)
3. Live 1975-85 (disc 2- track 7)
4. MTV UnPlugged (track 4)
5. Tribute 1997: One Step Up / Two Steps Back: The Songs Of Bruce Springsteen (disc 1- track 9), performed by Martin Zellar

Liner notes from the One Step Up / Two Steps Back: The Songs Of Bruce Springsteen tribute booklet:

"Born To Run" made me a big fan of Springsteen, but "Darkness" made me want to be a singer/songwriter. It was that song in particular that really stuck out to me lyrically. Where I grew up, literally and figuratively, it was true. I don't know what his intention was, but it rang true to me.

-Martin Zellar