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.

Story of our two protagonists, our narrator and his friend Wayne. From all accounts, both are fairly ne’er-do-well young men. Unable, in a city of over 7million people, to either find work or get a date. Using some onion-skin thin excuse of a possible job out-of-town, our two young men head on a road-trip down south one July 4th weekend enjoying the sunshine and loud music, seemingly with little concern for their future job interview or long-term accommodations. \n\nOf course, questions abound. If Wayne’s uncle has connections to a well-paying union job, why is it only available over 800 miles away? Isn’t there something closer to home? While road construction certainly does take place in the summer. The reality is most road construction, particularly in the deep-south, would have started in the early spring. That two well-paying union jobs are suddenly available to these out of towners seems specious, at best. But, even if this opportunity exists, why do these young men need to travel over a summer holiday? July 4th is often not actually on a weekend. It does seem that the boys undertake this trip as much as an adventure as an opportunity for financial security. And, of course, we have to speak to their actual point of origin. Our narrator likes to say they are “from New York City” and yet, he also informs us that they “drove 800 miles without seeing a cop”. NYC is about 600 miles from Darlington, SC. In all likelihood, an 800 mile drive would put their point of origin much closer to Albany or Schenectady, NY than actually New York City or its outlying metropolitan area.\n\nSo with all that as pre-amble, our heroes finally do arrive at the aforementioned City of Darlington, country seat of Darlington County, South Carolina. No sooner do they arrive that these young me do as young men throughout history are apt to do; their minds turn to young ladies and having a good time (not their financial future). And yet again, our two companions seem totally unprepared for the reality of the situations. Projecting themselves as worldly Bon Vivants and big-spenders from the big city, they sadly have but a couple hundred dollars to their name (hardly enough for the good life – and little more than a night of mild entertainment).\n\nWhile not completely clear, our two protagonists may be trying their hand at “picking-up” local ladies at a local watering hole – or may, in fact, have come across women who are more easily accommodating. Whether it is the alcohol or the young women or perhaps the acquaintances of these same young women (in either a social or managerial sense), it does appear trouble soon ensues for our heroes. \n\nOur narrator’s good friend Wayne soon disappears from the frame. It’s initially unclear if young Wayne has ended up in some unsavory company, possibly been involved in some general public disobedience or perhaps even been incarcerated (perhaps even something worse has befallen Wayne) – for the moment, we as listeners are left to imagine for a bit. \n\nJump ahead about 1 week, our narrator is speaking to a young woman ‘at a window’. We are unsure if this is the pay-window for the job that led to all this excitement in the first place or, perhaps, it’s the bail window in the Jail as our narrator attempts to retrieve his friend. What is clear, is money is short and the earlier promises of work have fallen far short. Certainly Wayne, and possibly our narrator as well, have not actually found these high-paying union jobs – and no work, means no pay.\n\nAs we reach the denouement of our story, our narrator is further drawn to this young lady behind the window. Perhaps it’s just the dalliances of youth at first, but there does seem to be a further connection that quickly grows. So, our hero, now beginning to understand his misguided ways, finds redemption. Perhaps that redemption is in the form of love, perhaps in the words of the Lord, perhaps both.\n\nLeaving the errors of his past behind he and his young love leave the wickedness behind to a brighter more optimistic more settled future – getting one last reminder of the horrors he just barely missed as he catches a glimpse of his former friend (or more likely simply a vision of the future avoided).

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.