Live July 2018 version
I always, I always thought I was a typical American, and so I fought my whole life, and I studied and I played and I worked. 'Cause I wanted to hear and I wanted to know the whole American story. I wanted to know my story and your story. I felt like I needed to understand as much of it as I could in order to understand myself. You know? Who was I? And... where I came from and what that meant. What did it mean to my family. Where was I going. And where were we going together as a people. And then, and what did it mean to be an American? And to be a part of that story in this place and in this time. I wanted to be able to celebrate and honor its beauty, its power, and I wanted to be able to be a critical voice when I thought that that's what the times called for. But most of all, more than anything else, I wanted to be able to tell that story well to you. That was my young promise to myself. And this was my young promise to you. From when I was a very young man, I took my fun very seriously, you know. And this is what I have pursued as my service. I still believe in it as such. This is what I've presented to you all these years as my long and noisy prayer, as my magic trick. I wanted... I wanted to rock your very soul! And have you bring it home and pass it on and I wanted it to be sung and altered by you and your folks and your children, should they be interested. I wanted it to be something that you could call on when things were good. And uh... and when things were not so good. You know, that it might strengthen, help make sense of your story and your life the way that you strengthen me and help me make sense of my life. You've provided me with purpose, with meaning and with a great, great amount of joy. I hope I've done that for you and that I've been a good traveling companion. Remember that the future is not yet written. So when things look dark, do as my mighty mom would insist. Lace up your dancing shoes and get to work.
I get up in the evening and I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the morning, I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired, man I'm just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby, hmm 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 dancing in the dark
Message just keep getting clearer, radio's on and I'm moving 'round my place
I check my look in the mirror, wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
Man, I ain't getting nowhere, just living in a dump like this
There's something happening somewhere, hmm baby I just know 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 dancing in the dark
Sit around getting older
There's a joke here somewhere, when I figure it out I'll let you know.
All I know is that it's on me
Shake this world off my shoulders, come on baby have a laugh on me
Stay on the streets of this town oh and they'll be carving you up, that's right
Say you gotta stay hungry, well I'm just about starving tonight
I'm dying for some action, sick of sitting 'round here trying to write this book
I need a love reaction, come on now baby gimme just one look
You can't start a fire sitting 'round crying over a broken heart
This gun's for hire even if we're just dancing in the dark
You can't start a fire worrying about your little world falling apart
This gun's for hire even if we're just dancing in the dark
Yeah!
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Hey baby
Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah
The above lyrics are for the live July 2018 performance of DANCING IN THE DARK at Walter Kerr Theatre in New York City, NY, during Springsteen On Broadway. The song was played solo on acoustic guitar.
This performance of DANCING IN THE DARK was recorded on 17 or 18 July 2018 during the taping of the Springsteen On Broadway Netflix special. It was released on the Springsteen On Broadway album in 2018.
Springsteen On Broadway was a Bruce Springsteen concert residency held at Walter Kerr Theatre (in 2017-2018) and St. James Theatre (in 2021) in New York City, NY. The show consisted of Springsteen performing five shows a week, Tuesday through Saturday, at the Broadway theatres. The sold-out series of performances began with seven previews starting on 03 Oct 2017 and officially opened on 12 Oct 2017. It was extended three times after its initial eight-week run, running through 15 Dec 2018 and bringing the total number of performances at Walter Kerr Theatre to 238. On 10 Jun 2018, Springsteen received a special Tony Award for his Broadway show. In 2021, an additional limited run was announced, this time held at St. James Theatre instead of Walter Kerr Theatre. This new series of performances opened on 26 Jun 2021 and ran through 04 Sep 2021, bringing the total number of performances at both theatres to 268.
The show featured Springsteen, solo, playing guitar, piano, and harmonica, performing his music, restating incidents from his 2016 autobiography Born To Run, and performing other spoken reminiscences written for the show. His wife, Patti Scialfa, has also appeared at most shows, singing backing vocals on a total of three different songs.
Springsteen On Broadway, a Netflix special directed by Grammy- and Emmy-winning filmmaker Thom Zimny, was filmed during two special invitation-only shows on 17 and 18 Jul 2018. The film launched globally on Netflix on 16 Dec 2018 at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time, just hours after the final Broadway performance at Walter Kerr Theatre closed. Two days prior, on 14 Dec 2018, Columbia Records released Springsteen On Broadway, an audio album encompassing the full film soundtrack. The audio was mixed by Bob Clearmountain and mastered by Bob Ludwig. The album is available physically as a 2-disc CD set or a 4-disc LP set, as well as digitally.
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List of available versions of DANCING IN THE DARK on this website:
DANCING IN THE DARK [Album version]