I doubt that Springsteen meant to go too deep into the mythology, but making a metaphor of the two pairs of sons and fathers makes quite a comment on how he sees his family. Cain was the first murderer and Abel was the first person to be killed because they were actually the first human beings (their mother and father were divine creations and the brothers were born of woman). Was Cain evil? If he was, then was Adam also evil? Or was he more like Abel, the "good son"? And is the father/son pair in this song alike only in their bitterness and rage? Or is there something evil about them too?
I doubt that Springsteen meant to go too deep into the mythology, but making a metaphor of the two pairs of sons and fathers makes quite a comment on how he sees his family. Cain was the first murderer and Abel was the first person to be killed because they were actually the first human beings (their mother and father were divine creations and the brothers were born of woman). Was Cain evil? If he was, then was Adam also evil? Or was he more like Abel, the "good son"? And is the father/son pair in this song alike only in their bitterness and rage? Or is there something evil about them too?