Dancing in the Dark - Bruce Springsteen

[mmazzucco9]

Dancing in the Dark - Bruce Springsteen



I get up in the evening
and I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the morning
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired
Man I'm just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby, I could use just a little help

You can't start a fire
You can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
even if we're just dancing in the dark

Message keeps getting clearer
radio's on and I'm moving 'round the place
I check my look in the mirror
I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
Man I ain't getting nowhere
I'm just living in a dump like this
There's something happening somewhere
baby I just know that there is

You can't start a fire
you can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
even if we're just dancing in the dark

You sit around getting older
there's a joke here somewhere and it's on me
I'll shake this world off my shoulders
come on baby this laugh's on me

Stay on the streets of this town
and they'll be carving you up alright
They say you gotta stay hungry
hey baby I'm just about starving tonight
I'm dying for some action
I'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to write this book
I need a love reaction
come on now baby gimme just one look

You can't start a fire sitting 'round crying over a broken heart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
You can't start a fire worrying about your little world falling apart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Hey baby

[mmazzucco9]

Bruce Springsteen’s “Dancing in the Dark” is a perfect complement to Edmund Tyrone of Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night because of the state of realization and loneliness that is referenced, which in turn demonstrates Edmund’s desire to leave the Tyrone family behind for good. For the entirety of Edmund’s life he has lived within a world of chaos due to his dysfunctional family, however recently the “message keeps getting clearer.” The reality of the Tyrone family is fully revealing itself to Edmund; for instance he is faced with the fact that Mary is once again succumbing to her addiction of morphine, he is diagnosed with tuberculosis, and he is told that, as Jamie states, “I made you! You’re my Frankenstein” (164). Throughout this whole period Edmund is “dancing in the dark” because he is consumed by the complete dysfunction of the Tyrone family without any help or person to talk to and confide in. In order to avoid the troubles associated with his family, Edmund went to the sea, “a spark.” Such a journey into “the fog where I wanted to be,” was a moment for Edmund to escape his darkness and envelope himself in solitude (131). Unfortunately for Edmund, this was an experience that came to an end. However due to the fact that Edmund has experienced a spark in his system, he can no longer avoid the desire to set himself free from the death trap that he is contained in, “I’m dying for some action/I’m sick of sitting ‘round here trying to write this book.” Edmund’s opportunity to truly escape is at sea; however currently due to his poor condition the next best option is the sanatorium, which explains his eagerness to attend a place that has for centuries held a negative perception. Therefore, Edmund has been hoping for quite some time that an opportunity would present itself so that he could take the spark and run with it to freedom as if flying like a sea gull, and as a result “start[ing] a fire.” By igniting a fire Edmund would further develop the spark and escape the world where he feels like “a stranger who never feels at home,” at the same time he would discover a new home, a place where there is a fire (153). Edmund’s desire to escape his own family stems from the fact that for the entirety of his life he has always been “just dancing in the dark.”