Dancing In The Dark

Album

Born in the U.S.A.

Label

Columbia Records

Genre

Dance-rock

Composer(s)

Bruce Springsteen

Entered Chart

May 26, 1984

Peak Date

Jun 30, 1984

Released

May 9, 1984

Recorded

February 14, 1984[2] Studio The Hit Factory, New York

Catalog #

Columbia 04463

B-Side

"Pink Cadillac"

Springsteen wrote this about his difficulty writing a hit single and his frustration trying to write songs that will please people. His struggles pour out in the lyric, where he feels like a hired gun dying for some action. He even addresses an industry trope, which he surely heard many times before: They say you gotta stay hungry hey baby I'm just about starving tonight Ironically, the song was a hit single - the biggest of his career in terms of US chart position. (Although Manfred Mann's cover of Springsteen's "Blinded by the Light" made #1.) This was the last song written for the Born In The U.S.A.. Springsteen wrote it after his manager, Jon Landau, demanded a hit single for the album. After a brief altercation, he complied and wrote it that same night - a classic case of a manager or record executive getting an artist so fired up that the energy channels into a hit, giving them exactly what they were looking for. Springsteen was doing just fine, with six successful albums in his discography and an unparalleled concert reputation. He had over 70 songs written for Born In The U.S.A., but Landau wanted a guaranteed hit to ensure superstar status for Springsteen. "Dancing In The Dark" provided just that spark; released as the first single (the only one issued ahead of the album), it started the fire that was Born In The U.S.A. Springsteen's songs were soon all over the radio, and he found a whole new audience. Unlike many rock artists who are accused of selling out when they hit it huge, Springsteen's star turn was welcomed (for the most part) by his faithful, who had spent many years spreading his gospel. Directed by Brian DePalma, the video was filmed during Springsteen's concert at the St. Paul Civic Center in Minnesota on June 29, 1984. Courteney Cox, who was planted in the audience, got the role of the adoring fan in the front row who gets to dance on stage with Bruce. (Despite the song title, the dancing took place in good light.) Springsteen did "Dancing In The Dark" midway through the show, so by that time he was good and sweaty and the crowd was worked into a frenzy. To get the shots, Springsteen did the song twice, with DePalma repositioning his cameras after the first take. The video was Springsteen's first to get heavy airplay on MTV, and it introduced him to a new, mostly younger audience. As for Cox, a few years later she landed a role on the sitcom Family Ties, and went on to star in the wildly popular TV series Friends. The lyric is rather bleak, as Springsteen sings lines like, "Man I ain't getting nowhere, I'm just living in a dump like this." It doesn't have a happy ending, but by the end of the song, he seems intent on taking some action, looking for just a tiny bit of inspiration to set him on his path - after all, you can't start a fire without a spark. By the last verse, there's a touch of existentialism, as he puts things in perspective: "You can't start a fire worrying about your little world falling apart." The deep, philosophical message was lost on most listeners who were entranced by the catchy beat (the video didn't exactly push a deeper meaning either). Springsteen got a similar reaction to his song "Born In The U.S.A.," where the message was lost in the music. That one bothered him, as the song is about the plight of a Vietnam veteran returning home to hostilities and disregard. This won Springsteen his first Grammy. In 1985, it got the award for Best Male Vocal. This song sent the Born In the U.S.A. album on a Thriller-like run of chart success, with the next six singles all reaching the US Top 10. The tally, in order of release: "Cover Me" (#7) "Born In The U.S.A." (#9) "I'm On Fire" (#6) "Glory Days" (#5) "I'm Goin' Down" (#9) "My Hometown" (#6) The original concept for the music video was to have Springsteen literally dancing in the dark - shot against against a black background. Jeff Stein was the director, and Daniel Pearl, famous for his cinematography on "Every Breath You Take," was the director of photography. Pearl and Springsteen got in a kerfuffle over how he should be shot, with Springsteen wanting a filter and Pearl insisting on hard lighting. Bruce walked out after a few takes, and ended up shooting the video with Brian DePalma. A few years later, despite his efforts to avoid Springsteen, Pearl found himself working on the "Human Touch" video. Pearl says that Springsteen apologized for the "Dancing In The Dark" debacle and asked to work with him again, as he realized Pearl was right about the lighting. The single was released on May 3, 1984 and reached its US chart peak of #2 on June 30, which was before the video hit MTV. That week, "The Reflex" by Duran Duran held it out of the top spot; with MTV support, "Dancing In The Dark" looked like a sure bet for #1, but then Prince and his crying doves showed up, ruling MTV and the airwaves, and keeping Springsteen's song at #2 for the next three weeks. In 1985, Tina Turner performed this on her Private Dancer tour. Her version appears on the album Tina Turner - Live in Tokyo. >> A rather intriguing cover of this song was by the group Big Daddy, who hit #21 UK with their version. The concept behind Big Daddy is that a band crash landed on an island while out on tour in the late '50s or early '60s, and when they were rescued in the early '80s, tried to revive their career. Music had changed drastically by then, so they started covering '80s music in the only style they knew how to play. The result is a kind of modern Pat Boone sound. In the 1985 Rolling Stone reader's poll, this was voted Single of the Year. According to Rolling Stone, this is is the only Springsteen song that Bob Dylan ever covered, and he only did it once: at the club Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut, on the night of January 12th, 1990. Dylan flubbed most of the words and the performance was so rough that most people in the audience didn't seem to realize what song it was until the band hit the chorus.

I get up in the evenin'
And I ain't got nothin' to say
I come home in the mornin'
I go to bed feelin' the same way
I ain't nothin' but tired
Man, I'm just tired and bored with myself
Hey there, baby, I could use just a little help

You can't start a fire
You can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancin' in the dark

Messages keeps gettin' clearer
Radio's on and I'm movin' 'round my place
I check my look in the mirror
Wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
Man, I ain't gettin' nowhere
I'm just livin' in a dump like this
There's somethin' happenin' somewhere
Baby, I just know that there is

You can't start a fire
You can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancin' in the dark

You sit around gettin' older
There's a joke here somewhere and it's on me
I'll shake this world off my shoulders
Come on, baby, the laugh's on me

Stay on the streets of this town
And they'll be carvin' you up alright
They say you gotta stay hungry
Hey baby, I'm just about starvin' tonight
I'm dyin' for some action
I'm sick of sittin' 'round here tryin' to write this book
I need a love reaction
Come on now, baby, gimme just one look

You can't start a fire
Sittin' 'round cryin' over a broken heart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancin' in the dark
You can't start a fire
Worryin' about your little world fallin' apart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancin' in the dark
Even if we're just dancin' in the dark
Even if we're just dancin' in the dark
Even if we're just dancin' in the dark
Hey baby