"Badlands" is a song found on Bruce Springsteen's fourth studio album Darkness of the Edge of Town. Whenever I listen to this song I get a strong sense of emotion not only from the song but the lyrics as well.
The main idea of the song is that the speaker is a person who has not gotten what they want out of life. The speaker want to escape the boring repetitiveness of where he is now, saying, "I don't give a damn/ For the same old played out scenes." This clearly demonstrates the speaker's feeling of boredom with their surroundings. The speaker also feels his surroundings are what are holding him back, since they do not strive for anything more than what they already have. This is clearly stated in the lines, "I believe in the hope/ And I pray that some day/ It may raise me above these/ Badlands..." The entire song discusses his desire to dream for something better in life, and how these "Badlands" are holding him back because there are no dreamers there, no one looking to advance their current status. Another line that I think is beautiful is the one which says, "Poor man wanna be rich/ Rich man wanna be king/ And a king ain't satisfied/ Till he rules everything." This perfectly states the fact that everyone seems to want as much power as they can possibly have, as there is no stopping until they have all the power they possibly can.
I've haven't listened to much Bruce Springsteen, but you have a strong argument for why this is poetry. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteI like Bruce Springsteen, but I was unfamiliar with this song. I think your analysis of the song is awesome. After listening to the song and reading your post, I would agree that he thinks people are power hungry and that he is a unique individual who wants more out of his life.
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