Today and tonight, I paid a visit to the Darkness on the Edge of Town by cranking up the Rising?It works for me but maybe or maybe not for others. A little prelude if you don?t mind. On May 9th of 1980 I met this little lady. I say little because, for 28 years I have said she is 4? 11? but she claims 5? 0?. I fell in love with that little Angel, and she brought happiness and confidence to my life when I needed it most, but we had a problem. She had already met her first love before she met me, so what we had was an affair. She fulfilled her commitments and moved over 2K miles away to be with her first. Those were days of confusion for me, how could I love another man?s woman, how could I resent her for leaving me when she said ?I Love You So? ON May 28, 1980.
I needed help badly and that is where I first HEARD DOTEOT. It resonated from song to song right down to where I needed it most.
Badlands ? was caught up in crossfire, guts were smashed up and I didn?t understand. But I wanted her heart
Adam raised a Cain ? Leaving a small Southern Town where my Daddy had worked for nothing but the pain
Something In the Night ? Our Affair
Candy?s Room ? She wants me
Racing In the Streets ? The song I will play at my ?Race Car Driving? Brother?s funeral because he built me a 68 Chevy with a 396 ( yeah close) and for ?Tonight My Baby and Me, we are going to ride to the sea and wash these sins from our hands?
The Promised Land ? I do Believe ( BTW my daughter got the ?look? at Tulsa on the WOADT Tour) WOOT!!!!
Factory ? My Dad
Streets of Fire ? Why didn?t she stay? I hear this song I see my my 18 yr old self lying in bed with the headphones on and it still hurts and heals
Prove It All Night ? That we did!
Darkness on the Edge of Town - I made sure that ?I was Easily Found? and I would ?Always Be On That Hill?
DOTEOT made me cherish the time MY Angel shared with me. Even though she had left, the music of DOTEOT was my companion and I felt like no one is truly ever broken.
About the time the River was released she came back to be with me. We married with only 3 ?Wedding Day Smiles? as it was just us and the Justice of the Peace. 29 years later we find ourselves at a similar 1980 crossroads. You see my little Angel has a darkness! She was molested by her Father, but she spoke up; her family hated her for breaking them up. This was a time when ?counseling? for Child Abuse victims was provided by Lawyers and not Doctors. She has carried her Darkness with her for all these years, sometimes it surfaces tragically like it has done in 2011. My little Angel feels that she has made some mistakes that we can?t overcome and has problems that can?t be solved.
So I cracked open a dusty bottle of Bourbon and started playing the Promise. Damn The Brokenhearted fits then and now so well! As I got busy with other things, Media Player just kept going through my alphabetical listing to reach the next Album and Lonesome Day kicked in. The next thing I know, My City of Ruins kicks in. Along the way, I never felt alone and I felt proud and honored to have shared so much with my Angel. This is very much what Darkness felt like to me so long ago. Thank You Mr. Springsteen! It appears that your music will be my only companion for awhile.
Apologies for typos, punctuation and spelling, Bourbon + heartache doesn?t help
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