Album version
In Candy's room, there are pictures of her heroes on the wall
But to get to Candy's room, you gotta walk the darkness of Candy's hall
Strangers from the city call my baby's number and they bring her toys
When I come knocking, she smiles pretty, she knows I wanna be Candy's boy
There's a sadness hidden in that pretty face
A sadness all her own, from which no man can keep Candy safe
We kiss, my heart's rushes to my brain
And the blood rushes in my veins, the fire rushes towards the sky
And then we go driving, driving deep into the night
I go driving deep into the light, in Candy's eyes
She says, "baby if you wanna be wild, you got a lot to learn
Close your eyes, let them melt, let them fire, let them burn"
'Cause in the darkness, there'll be hidden worlds that shine
When I hold Candy close she makes these hidden worlds mine
She has fancy clothes and diamond rings
She has men who give her anything she wants, but they don't see
That what she wants is me
Oh and I want her so, I'll never let her go, no no no
She knows that I'd give all that I got to give
All that I want, all that I live to make Candy mine
Tonight
CANDY'S ROOM is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and released on his 1978 album Darkness On The Edge Of Town. The above lyrics are for Bruce Springsteen's album version of CANDY'S ROOM as released in 1978.
CANDY'S ROOM evolved mainly from two distinct songs ─ the first verse is taken from CANDY'S BOY and the music, a line in the second verse ("And the blood rushes in my veins"), and the first four lines in the fourth verse are taken from THE FAST SONG.
A handwritten lyrics sheet containing an early draft of CANDY'S ROOM, titled "New Fast Song (Candy)", is available. See the early draft for more details.
According to Sony's logs of Bruce Springsteen's studio sessions, CANDY'S ROOM was cut on 27 Sep 1977, 12 Dec 1977, and 03-05 Mar 1978 at The Record Plant in New York City, NY. The song was titled "New Fast Song" on the 27 Sep 1977 log. Clinton Heylin, who had access to Sony's logs, wrote in his 2012 book E Street Shuffle: The Glory Days Of Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band that Springsteen worked extensively on the song in late September 1977 and that he "spent a further three days in early March 1978 working through some seventy-nine 'takes' ─ surely a series of vocal overdubs."
In his 1989 book Backstreets: Springsteen, The Man And His Music, Charles R. Cross, who likely had access to logs from the recording sessions, revealed that "take 42" of CANDY'S ROOM is the one that ended up on the album. Of course, this must be the mix number ─ they made endless different mixes, not recorded the song 42 times.
A two-sided acetate with one take of CANDY'S ROOM on each side is in the hands of collectors. The 12" 33⅓ rpm metal acetate was cut on 12 Apr 1978, almost two months before Darkness On The Edge Of Town was released, at Sterling Sound in New York City, NY. On one side is Take #42, which is the one that made it onto the album, and on the other side is Take #13, which most likely is the one that was released on The Original Darkness Mixes bootleg (see the "Bootleg Releases" section below for more details). Take #42 is dated 03 Mar 1978 and Take #13 is dated 04 Mar 1978.
Video footage, from 30 Sep 1977, of Bruce Springsteen playing an early demo of CANDY'S ROOM on piano was released on The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set in 2010. See the early studio demo for more details.
Despite the marvelous reception received by both Born To Run and the tour which followed, the relationship between Bruce Springsteen and his now former manager and producer Mike Appel was deteriorating. In July 1976 the storm broke; Mike Appel wrote to Springsteen saying that he would not allow Jon Landau (Springsteen's friend and co-producer of Born To Run) to produce the next album, citing a particular paragraph from their original agreement. Bruce replied on 27 Jul 1976 by firing manager Mike Appel and suing him and his management company Laurel Canyon Ltd. in Federal Court in Manhattan, claiming fraud, breach of trust, and undue influence. Appel countersued on 29 Jul 1976 in New York State Supreme Court, asking the court to prohibit Springsteen and Jon Landau from working together in studio. Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band were slated to enter the studio that year for the recording of a new album, except that on 15 Sep 1976 the judge in the lawsuits case ruled that Springsteen was enjoined from any further recording with Columbia Records until Appel's suit was resolved. This would drag for about a year.
Meanwhile, Springsteen continued gigging, and in the process broke his self-imposed rule of not playing the larger arenas. This was basically because he was not able to put a record out, and it was the only way his fans would be able to hear him at all.
Bruce Springsteen reached a final settlement in his yearlong litigation with Mike Appel on 28 May 1977. Effectively this meant that for the first time in a year Springsteen was able to go into a studio and record. The Darkness On The Edge Of Town recording sessions kicked off in early June 1977 at Atlantic Studios in New York City, NY, and later shifted to The Record Plant in New York City, NY. Springsteen had a considerable amount of new material, but the songs were in various stages of writing completion. Consequently many of the songs were shaped over the course of numerous sessions spanning several months.
The sessions at Atlantic Studios were only two or three weeks old when problems surfaced. Springsteen didn't like the sound he was getting from the studio, particularly the drums. On top of that Atlantic Studios did not offer a particularly comfortable or livable environment for the musicians. A decision was taken to shift operations to the nearby Record Plant where most of the Born To Run album had been recorded. However financial commitments to Atlantic Studios were already made, and on such short notice it was hard to find un-booked studio time at the popular Record Plant. Consequently the Jul-Aug 1977 period saw Springsteen and the band recording at both studios, but mostly Atlantic Studios. From September to late December, all the recording seems to have taken place at The Record Plant, where all the recordings issued on the original album emanate from.
The actual recording sessions for Darkness On The Edge Of Town were completed by early January 1978. The mixing sessions began in early January 1978 and dragged on until late March. There was a tremendous amount of different mixes considered, with Springsteen changing his mind on the mix of THE PROMISED LAND as late as early April.
Darkness On The Edge Of Town was released on Columbia Records on 02 Jun 1978. It was produced by Bruce Springsteen and Jon Landau.
The album features 10 new Springsteen compositions and clocks at 42:55.
A different mix of the album version of CANDY'S ROOM, with reverb and delay added to the lead vocal, can be found on The Original Darkness Mixes (E. St. Records) [track 03] bootleg.
CANDY'S ROOM was used as the B-side to BADLANDS uniquely on a single made in Holland for export to France.
The album version of CANDY'S ROOM can be also found on two Bruce Springsteen promo-only samplers.
Other versions of CANDY'S ROOM were also officially released.
In preparation for the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour, CANDY'S ROOM is known to have been practiced on 19 May 1978 at Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ, during the only known/confirmed private rehearsal prior to the tour's start.
CANDY'S ROOM is known to have been performed at least 64 times during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour (111 dates, May 1978 to January 1979), most of them in the tour's second half. A few of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour. The live 07 Jul 1978 version of CANDY'S ROOM was released on The Roxy July 7, 1978 official live download in 2018. The live 19 Sep 1978 version of CANDY'S ROOM was released on the September 19, 1978 official live download in 2019. The live 20 Sep 1978 version of CANDY'S ROOM was released on the Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ September 20, 1978 official live download in 2017. The live 30 Sep 1978 version of CANDY'S ROOM was released on the September 30, 1978 official live download in 2020. The live 08 Dec 1978 version of CANDY'S ROOM was released on The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set in 2010. The live 15 Dec 1978 version of CANDY'S ROOM was released on the Winterland 12/15/78 official live download in 2019. The live 16 Dec 1978 version of CANDY'S ROOM was released on the Winterland 12/16/78 official live download in 2019.
CANDY'S ROOM is known to have been performed at least 73 times during The River Tour (138 dates, October 1980 to September 1981). A few of that period's setlists are incomplete or unknown, and therefore, the song may have been played on some more dates during The River Tour. The live 05 Nov 1980 version of CANDY'S ROOM was released on the Arizona State University, Tempe 1980 official live download in 2015. The live 29 Dec 1980 version of CANDY'S ROOM was released on the Nassau Coliseum, New York 12/29/80 official live download in 2019. The live 31 Dec 1980 version of CANDY'S ROOM was released on the Nassau Coliseum, New York 1980 official live download in 2015. The live 05 Jun 1981 version of CANDY'S ROOM was released on the Wembley Arena June 5, 1981 official live download in 2018. The live 08 Jul 1981 version of CANDY'S ROOM was released on the Live/1975-85 box set in 1986.
CANDY'S ROOM was performed 6 times during the Born In The U.S.A. Tour (156 dates, June 1984 to October 1985), all of them in Sep-Oct 1984 in the United States.
In preparation for the Tunnel Of Love Express Tour, CANDY'S ROOM is known to have been practiced during at least one of the private rehearsals that took place in late January and early February 1988 at Expo Theater in Fort Monmouth, NJ, prior to the tour's first leg. The song was not played on any of the tour's regular dates.
CANDY'S ROOM was reportedly sound-checked prior to the 25 Jul 1992 show in East Rutherford, NJ, (as far as it's known) but it was not performed on any of World Tour 1992-1993's regular shows.
CANDY'S ROOM was performed 6 times during what is known as The Reunion Tour (132 dates, April 1999 to July 2000), all of them in the United States.
CANDY'S ROOM was performed 24 times during The Rising Tour (120 dates, August 2002 to October 2003).
In preparation for the Magic Tour, CANDY'S ROOM was performed during two of the tour's three public warm-up rehearsal shows that took place in September 2007 in Asbury Park and East Rutherford. The song is also known to have been practiced during at least one of the private rehearsals that took place in February 2008 in Asbury Park prior to the tour's second U.S. leg.
CANDY'S ROOM was performed 28 times during the Magic Tour (100 dates, October 2007 to August 2008). The live 19 Nov 2007 version of CANDY'S ROOM was released on the TD Banknorth Garden, Boston 11/19/07 official live download in 2018.
In preparation for the Working On A Dream Tour, CANDY'S ROOM was performed during one of the tour's two public warm-up rehearsal shows that took place in March 2009 in Asbury Park.
CANDY'S ROOM was performed 10 times during the Working On A Dream Tour (83 dates, April to November 2009).
CANDY'S ROOM was performed 23 times during the Wrecking Ball Tour (133 dates, March 2012 to September 2013). The live 11 Jul 2013 version of CANDY'S ROOM was released on the Ippodromo Delle Capannelle, Rome 2013 official live download in 2015.
CANDY'S ROOM was performed 4 times during the High Hopes Tour (34 dates, January to May 2014). Audio recordings for most High Hopes Tour shows are officially available for purchase.
CANDY'S ROOM was performed 16 times during The River Tour 2016 (75 dates, January to September 2016). Audio recordings for all The River Tour 2016 shows are officially available for purchase.
CANDY'S ROOM was performed 4 times during the Summer '17 Tour (14 dates, January and February 2017). Audio recordings for all Summer '17 Tour shows are officially available for purchase.
CANDY'S ROOM was performed off-tour on 07 May 2008 at Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, NJ, during a benefit show for the historic theatre. The complete Darkness On The Edge Of Town album was played that night.
CANDY'S ROOM was performed off-tour on 13 Dec 2009 at Paramount Theatre in Asbury Park, NJ, during the taping of Darkness On The Edge Of Town, Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park 2009 homes video, which was included on The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set in 2010. See the live 13 Dec 2010 version for more details.
Bruce Springsteen's album version of CANDY'S ROOM appears in one movie.
At least 8 artists have recorded and released Bruce Springsteen's CANDY'S ROOM.
List of available versions of CANDY'S ROOM on this website:
CANDY'S ROOM [Album version]
