TUESDAY TUNES: “Badlands”

I wasn’t able to fully appreciate Bruce Springsteen’s music until I after I worked full time for a few years. His music is full of blue-collar optimism, and I was definitely in a place in which I wanted to be more and do more.

“Badlands” is the first song on Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Springsteen’s greatest album (in my humble opinion). It’s a great song, a great album, and another example of how The Boss gets to the root of American anxiety:

“Poor man wanna be rich,
rich man wanna be king,
And a king ain’t satisfied,
till he rules everything”

Perhaps there will never be enough to satisfy our appetite for more success and love. Maybe we’ll always be looking for something that isn’t there. But as long as Springsteen is hopeful, so am I.

“Badlands”

Lyrics courtesy: AZLyrics

Lights out tonight,
Trouble in the heartland,
Got a head on collision,
Smashin’ in my guts, man,
I’m caught in a cross fire,
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,

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.

Workin’ in the fields
till you get your back burned,
Workin’ ‘neath the wheel
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 someday it may raise me,
Above these badlands

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.

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

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.