#46 Darkness on the Edge of Town by Bruce Springsteen

The darkness lives inside all of us. Only some, though, live their lives inside of the dark walls that surround them from within. Sometimes the pain of living is just too unbearable for fragile hearts. The secrets of their life tucked down deep inside of them do not ever sleep. They thrash around in the daylight and haunt them in the night.

Some would have these struggling souls believe that they have erred in allowing their demons to control their life. They would tell them that it is what they think about and dwell on that makes their life difficult – they just need to live in the sunshine – think positive – think yourself into denial and life can be good. Reach for some external source of fulfillment and you can be happy.

When your relationship with the darkness is as old as you are, you know the pain living there can bring. Once you’ve lived there, it’s nearly impossible to live anywhere, anyway else. You can’t. You don’t want to. There are certain realizations about life that can only be found by wrestling with the darkness. The struggle itself is what feeds and fulfills you. The anguish, the tears, the confusion all must be faced. The lonely road must be taken. You must feed it and beat it until it loosens a little of its grip, a little of its hold on you. Then you must go after it again and again.

The darkness will tear you up and spit you out. But it will spit you out, out on the line where “dreams are found and lost”, where you will either let it take away from all you have left or where you will find new meaning and understanding in your life’s journey. Take from it – use it. The changes it brings could not have been found on any other pathway. You will look back and know you went where you had to go to get where you are.

Then some day the darkness will call again…and to it you will knowingly return.

For Complete Lyrics Visit: http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/DarknessOnTheEdgeOfTown.html

#45 Dancing in the Dark by Bruce Springsteen

“Dancing in the Dark” – there’s no better way to describe living. We keep going despite problems. We keep living and moving forward not knowing for certain what our life means. We “keep on keepin’ on” as they say. The longer we live, the more puzzle pieces are put into place. But even then, it’s a million piece puzzle and we’ve maybe found only the corner pieces.

Something in us tells us there’s something bigger to be experienced. We don’t know what that is, but we can feel it out there. We reach for it through connections, with people, experiences, and magical moments, giving us just enough of a spark to fuel us for a little while. When that spark burns out, we reach again. We hunger, we starve, for something more, because nothing satiates that empty ache inside. We keep on dancing not knowing exactly where we are or who or what is dancing with us.

What do you keep on dancing for?
For Complete Lyrics Visit: http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/DancingInTheDark.html

#43 and #44 Crush on You and Cynthia by Bruce Springsteen

We all know those kinds of girls. There’s the girl in Crush On You who every young guy dreams about. She’s the girl they all have a crush on but don’t have the courage to tell. She’s pretty and …well she’s pretty. She can be bland, she can be mean, she can be anything, but she’s pretty, so she becomes the fantasy. But that is usually all she becomes. And as young men mature, slowly but surely, a piece of her may always remain somewhere in their fantasy world, but their desire for her wanes. She fulfilled all she could, and there’s not enough of her to fulfill what a grown man needs. But until then, she’s got them by the…..neck.

Big fish in a little pond. That’s the type of girl embodied in Cynthia. She’s not the best looking girl around, but she’s all there is, so she’s going to get the attention. No one takes her seriously, but in a world where there’s not much to live for, she give the boys something to look forward to. She pretends not to notice, but she enjoys the attention just as much as they enjoy giving it. In their small world, the chance for some small, if meaningless, connection, is what they’re all looking for.

For Complete Lyrics Visit: http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/CrushOnYou.html and http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/Cynthia.html