Darlington County

Great story of two buddies leaving home for work. One of their uncles hooked them up.

The second verse is brilliant. These young naive cocky guys on the town with what they think is alot of money.

But it doesn't go according to plan. One buddy let's the other one down. He gets arrested for unknown reasons as his mate drives out of Darlington County.

springsteen: the greatest

I think there's more going on in this song.

They went to find work "on the county line." As in, on the edge. And they live on the edge, picking up hookers, lying to them (their fathers own the World Trade Center). And Wayne never shows up for work.

The song ends with the narrator heading into Dixie (it's not real life geography, but the implication is that they were just on the edge of Dixie), seeing Wayne arrested as he leaves.

Is this a song of happiness for being the one to escape? Maybe, but the line about "My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord" is ambiguous and suggests at a dark irony. He's pledged to let the hooker have her way, and he is leaving his buddy? cousin? behind. In that light, going to Dixie and praising the Lord sounds like commentary on that part of the population.

Not sure that the buddy is arrested for 'unknown reasons'. Given that they have been trying their luck with the 'little girl standing on the corner' and the 'little girl sitting in the window', by pointing out how much money they've got on them, I would suggest that he's been pulled up for soliciting.

Or, rather, the girls are soliciting. The guys are kerb-crawling.

A song about two friends from The CITY heading out looking for work. Probably about 18 or 19, an uncle has hooked them up with an out of town connection. But like most young men, girls are never far from their minds. They try all their charms and maybe a few white lies to see if they can hook up with these beauties. But being young and stupid (we were all that once), his buddy got arrested. I like to think it was for something reckless (fighting in a bar over the girl he met) rather than something more nefarious (sexual assault).

This song is one of Bruce's great pop songs more palatable for the casual fan. However, those are some of Bruce's most important recordings in my opinion, since it always reassures me that he never took himself and his work TOO seriously. Anyway, two aspects of this song stick out to me. One is the chorus: sha la la, sha la la la la la. That says it all in ways words never could. They're two young guys all horned up and looking to impress girls while they explore new hot spots. I think "sha la la..." is poetically powerful here, for the reckless abandon, youthful cheer, and good time rock n roll it embodies. Secondly, and while being a minor point of opinion, it is nonetheless necessary for me to say that I think "C'mon baby, take a seat on the fender, its a long night and tell me what else are you gonna do?" is a line that summarizes a great deal of Bruce's songwriting. Besides, his raising voice sounds awesome on that line, plain and simple.

Because I-95 runs the entire east coast from Florida to Maine, it's used as a drug run to bring drugs up north from Florida with several pick up spots along the way. Darlington County is one of those spots. The cops have always been on to this, so Wayne's Uncle sends the boys down to make the pick up so he doesn't get busted himself. I had 'a friend' that has made a couple runs like this back in the day.

The narrator, Bruce, is just a naive, young kid along for the ride, easy money and a good time and maybe doesn't know what exactly Wayne and his uncle are up to.

The boys are all cashed up, get into town, see a prostitute and are out for a good time. Who knows what them crazy fools will get up to with (what they think is) so much money. This is the problem with sending boys to do this kind of job. Like all boys with cash and too much testosterone they stand out like dogs balls and gather attention.

What could go wrong? Wayne is the lead but things didn't go as planned or he dumps Bruce to do his deal and make the real money and hangs out with his connection a lot longer than expected. Perhaps it doesn't go quite right and disappears.

Naive Bruce asks around where his buddy is. Asking the girl at the Police station (in the window) and the County Man but they don't know. Don't get the County man 'he don't work and he don't get paid' thing. Perhaps he doesn't care because they aren't residents or taxpayers of Darlington County.

Bruce decides to head home with a young pretty thing and drives by Wayne being arrested. It all clicks and Bruce decides to get the hell out of there and head south just in case Wayne decides to narc on Bruce as an accomplice.

Boys, drugs and money.

this is one of the happiest songs of all time. it's about adventure, those days where you and your buddy just hit the road looking for something, anything to do. sure wayne gets arrested, but as LCD soundsystem says, "I wouldn't trade one stupid decision for another five years of life"

One of my favorites from the Born in the USA album. It's one of those shaggy dog stories, a little bit funny and little bit ominous, that Bruce is so brilliant at writing. The friends are 'two big spenders' in from NYC, looking for a good time, bragging & telling tall tales. We last see Bruce driving by seeing his buddy Wayne handcuffed to a State Trooper's Ford. Others have speculated on what might have happened. The wit of the song revolves around that speculation as it's never made explicit.

2 young (18-20) guys from New York drive south for a lucrative union temp job in Darlington County. Upon their arrival, they encounter and pick up a prostitute, offering her $200 (a lot more money than the usual price for a standard romp with a street walker) for the entire night. They engage in a threesome and all sorts of obnoxious fun around town. Bruce at least shows up for work for a week, but Wayne get's lost. In the midst of all the partying, Wayne crossed somebody, and some locals decide to teach these snot-nosed kids from up north a lesson. Leaving town, Bruce sees Wayne being tortured/killed by being dragged from a (KKK?) cop's car.