Dancing In The Dark was the first of seven single releases from Bruce Springsteen's best-selling album of the 80's (and his career!) Born In The U.S.A., and the song was written and co-produced by Springsteen.
Interestingly, it was the last track to be written for the album, but the first single to be released from it!
The song reached #2 in the U.S. and #4 in the UK in 1984. Five more hits singles from the album were to follow; Cover Me (#16), Born In The USA (#5), I'm On Fire (#5), Glory Days (#17) and Hometown (#9).
Born In The USA
was Springsteen's seventh studio album and it was his most successful.
In fact, it was a commercial triumph achieving 15x Platinum in the US,
12x Platinum in Australia, 10x Platinum in Canada and 3x Platinum in the
UK.
Born in New Jersey, "The Boss" achieved his first hit single in 1975 with Born To Run which reached #23 in the U.S., although it didn't break the Top 40 in the UK. Born To Run was also covered (brilliantly) by Frankie Goes To Hollywood on their Welcome To The Pleasuredome album.
Dancing In The Dark - Vinyl Single Sleeve
This is the official video (directed by John Sayles) for Springsteen's thrid single and the title track from the album. The song became a global hit, reaching #5 here in the UK and #9 in the U.S. Written by The Boss himself, the track is seen by many as America's alternative national anthem.
The lyrics deal with the Vietnam war and the problems faced by the soldiers when they returned home. I remember that the song was often criticized as being a hollow, anthemic rock song, but these critics failed to actually listen carefully to the subject matter of the lyrics.
The fourth single from Born In The USA was a top ten hit in numerous countries, reaching #5 here in Britain. Released in February 1985, the music video featured Springsteen as a car mechanic who has to deal with the temptations of a sexy-looking female customer who drives a Ford Thunderbird. The B-side featured the track Johnny Bye Bye.
Although not released until May '85, Glory Days was recorded three years earlier in 1982. The Heartland rock song was released as the fifth single from Born In The U.S.A. and was yet another U.S. Top Ten hit. However, in the majority of countries the song failed to break into the top ten, including the UK where it stalled at #17. That's still pretty decent for a fifth single, though.
The lyrics reflect on Springsteen's high school days, with my favourite first verse referring to his encounters with an old baseball team mate. "Saw him the other night at this roadside bar, I was walking in, he was walking out, we went back inside sat down had a few drinks, but all he kept talking about was Glory Days..."
Far better than the inane, meaningless lyrics that we find in much of today's rubbish, at least!
This video clip features Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band on the Wrecking Ball Tour 2013 in LOndon, and listen out for the guitar solo because it's pretty awesome!
