Years later, after his failed marriage, he will write Human Touch, another song filled with melancholia.īruce has been searching for meaning and redemption since the beginning of his career, through all of his work. Bruce touches on this theme on all kinds of songs. His search and constant struggle for meaning finds him asking for someone to 'give him just one look', but really hopes for human contact. And so, he is, in effect ‘dancing in the dark’ or scrambling around in a dark world where there appears to be no meaning. All the while, his soul is tortured by life's implications, failed personal relationships, isolation and despair. (.I'm sick of sittin' ‘round here trying to write this book). He later confessed that at the time, he did not have a life. On the contrary, Bruce is extremely desperate for something good to happen in his personal life. The video is beautiful and exciting and colorful. It is underappreciated because most people think it is a happy song. It is misunderstood, by even diehard Bruce fans, because of the upbeat synth in the music. It is one of the most highly misunderstood and underappreciated of all of his songs. This song measures up to Bruce's great standard, with the best of them. This can be any one of us at any given time in our lives. It is not necessary to be a fan for Bruce’s writing in order to appreciate what he is going through. Underneath the disco/pop dance track is a confession of Bruce's dark and moody personality. What Bruce is doing here is NOTHING that all of us haven't experienced before. He abhorred himself (.I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face.) because his struggle for perfection is, well, a struggle. This was exactly the way it was for him in the early to middle 1980’s. The reader must consciously take note of what is truly being said, underneath the layers of their craftsmanship.ĭancing In The Dark is Bruce at his melancholy brilliance his impassioned outcry to search for some meaning, while around him, his life is a deteriorating wasteland. Springsteen and Poe are literary homeboys, in two different art forms, on account they both disguise the overall message of much of their work. My InterpretationDancing In The Dark is for Springsteen what The Fall of the House of Usher was for Poe. Worryin' about your little world fallin' apart Sittin' 'round cryin' over a broken heart I'm sick of sittin' 'round here tryin' to write this book Hey baby, I'm just about starvin' tonight

There's a joke here somewhere and it's on me Wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face Radio's on and I'm movin' 'round my place Hey there, baby, I could use just a little help Man, I'm just tired and bored with myself

Dancing in the dark