“on that hill with everything I got…”

“Darkness.” That was my immediate response to a friend’s inquiry years ago regarding what Bruce record to start with. It was a no brainer really since I was living there in self-imposed exile. Bruce was a pretty pissed off dude after fighting with his label for nearly 3 years after “Born to Run” and that anger spewed out from the opening of “Badlands,” and the theme of “paying the price” for what you want in this life lives in every black groove of that vinyl right through to the title track. Two or three of these songs would make a career for a successful musician, but this guy exorcised quite a bit in 3 years and came up with ten.

Side one
1. “Badlands”
2. “Adam Raised a Cain”
3. “Something in the Night”
4. “Candy’s Room”
5. “Racing in the Street”

Side two
1. “The Promised Land”
2. “Factory”
3. “Streets of Fire”
4. “Prove It All Night”
5. “Darkness on the Edge of Town”

It took me a little longer than 3 years, and ironically during it, some musicians fought with my label (One was always Angry), but I managed to leave that behind, pay the price (we had debts…) and slowly crawl out of the darkness. Well, it wasn’t always dark, but friend Jeff did literally help me move back from the edge of town. Since then, a new dawn slowly emerged with a little help from my friends, culminating under a blazing desert sun and the bright heart of a dear friend.

I still embrace the dark, but everybody needs some light and I’m finding there’s still quite a bit of growing to do in it…

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