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Badlands Lyrics
Lights out tonight trouble in the heartland
Got a head-on collision smashin' in my guts man
I'm caught in a crossfire that I don't understand
But there's one thing I know for sure I don't give a damn
For the same old played out scenes I don't give a damn
For just the in-betweens honey I want the heart I want the soul
I want control right now talk about a dream
Try to make it real you wake up in the night
With a fear so real spend your life waiting
For a moment that just don't come
Well don't waste your time waiting
Badlands you gotta live it every day
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price you've gotta pay
We'll keep pushin' till it's understood
And these badlands start treating us good
Workin' in the field till you get your back burned
Workin' `neath the wheels till you get your facts learned
Baby I got my facts learned real good right now
You better get it straight darling
Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king
And a king ain't satisfied till he rules everything
I wanna go out tonight, I wanna find out what I got
Now I believe in the love that you gave me
I believe in the faith that could save me
I believe in the hope and I pray that some day
It will raise me above these
Badlands...
For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
I wanna find one face that ain't looking through me
I wanna find one place, I wanna spit in the face of these
Badlands...
Got a head-on collision smashin' in my guts man
I'm caught in a crossfire that I don't understand
But there's one thing I know for sure I don't give a damn
For the same old played out scenes I don't give a damn
For just the in-betweens honey I want the heart I want the soul
I want control right now talk about a dream
Try to make it real you wake up in the night
With a fear so real spend your life waiting
For a moment that just don't come
Well don't waste your time waiting
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price you've gotta pay
We'll keep pushin' till it's understood
And these badlands start treating us good
Workin' `neath the wheels till you get your facts learned
Baby I got my facts learned real good right now
You better get it straight darling
Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king
And a king ain't satisfied till he rules everything
I wanna go out tonight, I wanna find out what I got
Now I believe in the love that you gave me
I believe in the faith that could save me
I believe in the hope and I pray that some day
It will raise me above these
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive
I wanna find one face that ain't looking through me
I wanna find one place, I wanna spit in the face of these
Song Info
Submitted by
oofus On May 23, 2001
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"Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king And a king ain't satisfied till he rules everything"
Wow... I used this quote in a philosophy essay on Kant. Basically Immanuel Kant used 25 pages to say what Bruce summed up in 2 lines. My professor loved the use of an outside artist (poet in Bruce's case), and I received an "A".
Is there any other artist out there that can sing so deeply? I'll answer that for you. No.
Hi, I was interested in reading your article on Kant. Could you email it to me, if you still have it?
Hi, I was interested in reading your article on Kant. Could you email it to me, if you still have it?
@hoagiej Growing up with the song before the internet - which means I could not look up the lyrics till quite a while - I always thought he was singing "[...] and a king ain't satisfied till he RUINS everything". I always thought that this means the king eventually will end up as a poor man again... meaning that everybody is caught in an endless treadmill.
@hoagiej Growing up with the song before the internet - which means I could not look up the lyrics till quite a while - I always thought he was singing "[...] and a king ain't satisfied till he RUINS everything". I always thought that this means the king eventually will end up as a poor man again... meaning that everybody is caught in an endless treadmill.
It's saying that world won't waste any time getting you down if you let it, SO DON'T LET IT!
He talks about the way people are never happy/satisfied in life, how they let things get them down, but "it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive"
Bruce is the fuckin man
Yeah, that line: ain't no sin to be glad you're alive is tremendous!
Yeah, that line: ain't no sin to be glad you're alive is tremendous!
@originl
@originl
Yes for me the three central lines in this song is, that no matter what these Badlands are doing to get you, "You gotta live it everyday", "Spit it in the face" , "it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive"
Yes for me the three central lines in this song is, that no matter what these Badlands are doing to get you, "You gotta live it everyday", "Spit it in the face" , "it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive"
When I was between the ages of 35 and 38, and in a mini-mid life crisis, I listened to this song every day. Having passed that stage, the song has a lot less meaning for me and even seems a little contrived. Still love the opening riff though.
Seemed to work for you for 3 years though, right? Pay your respects, man!
Seemed to work for you for 3 years though, right? Pay your respects, man!
@benjyedwards That completely makes sense. There are artists I liked a lot in the past. Didn't listen later in life, Then when I revisited them, I couldn't relate as much, hardly at all. We grow and change. These wonderful artists from the past help us to do that. So we are thankful.
@benjyedwards That completely makes sense. There are artists I liked a lot in the past. Didn't listen later in life, Then when I revisited them, I couldn't relate as much, hardly at all. We grow and change. These wonderful artists from the past help us to do that. So we are thankful.
See the references to faith, hope and love in the second verse. It seems to me that they could have been taken right from St Paul's great letter to the Corinthians. Unlike some who wear their Christianity on their sleeves, Mr. Springsteen's seems heartfelt and geniune - absorbed into his life, even if not traditionally practiced.
@Napawright @Napawright great point. The line in particular strikes me as coming from someone who has been suffering at the hands of guilt - Catholic guilt. Maybe it's just my cognitive bias and coming from my Irish Catholic family of nuns who communicate poorly. But drawing on other songs in this album, notably Adam Raised a Cain; I don't think I'm too far off.
@Napawright @Napawright great point. The line in particular strikes me as coming from someone who has been suffering at the hands of guilt - Catholic guilt. Maybe it's just my cognitive bias and coming from my Irish Catholic family of nuns who communicate poorly. But drawing on other songs in this album, notably Adam Raised a Cain; I don't think I'm too far off.
yea this is like an anthem of hope
Other comments have already summarized it better than I could. What other artist can write a few paragraphs of lyrics that make some thing of Kant, others think of Paul's letter to the Corinthians, and yet the song still rocks.
I love to listen to this song when I'm down... I don't think it needs any explanation, the power of the words explain it all. I especially love the lines, "You wake up in the night, with a fear so real, spend your life waiting for a moment that just don't come, well don't waste your time waiting..."
This song is so incredible to listen to when you're in a bad mood. Bruce really captured what he was feeling with this one. Because he is right, even if you hate where you are you have to live it everyday.
I think one of my faveorite lines is"......you spend your life wainting for a moment that just don't come, don't waste your' time waiting
Love that piano riff!