Written by: Bruce Springsteen
Released: 1984
US Charts: #2
UK Charts: #4
Other Charts: #1 (The Netherlands), #5 (Australia)
You can watch the music video here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk8VZgJkpeg
The most surprising fact about “Dancing In The Dark” is that it was the last song to be written and recorded for Bruce Springsteen’s biggest album, Born In The U.S.A. Springsteen wrote the song after an argument with his producer and manager John Landau who insisted that while the album was great, he wanted a guaranteed hit song as the first single. Springsteen didn’t agree, nonetheless, he wrote the song afterwards and combined with his frustration with completing the album, the lyrics flowed out relatively quickly.
While “Dancing In The Dark” became the most commercially successful single of Springsteen’s career, it was also different to his previous songs and the typical Springsteen sound. The song incorporated up-tempo synthesizer riffs which were common in the 80s, and which is why I think it became such a big mainstream hit in 1984.
Unfortunately, the song could only reach number 2 on the Billboard charts due to 2 other huge hits during the summer of 1984 (Duran Duran’s “The Reflex” and Prince’s “When Doves Cry”). On another occasion, this song would have easily reached number 1. Apart from the United States, it was also a big hit in many other countries, reaching number 4 in the UK and number 5 in Australia.
“Dancing In The Dark” is considered to be one of the great songs of the 1980’s especially when you’re in the mood for dancing. The music video, which also became one of the most recognizable videos of the decade, features Springsteen doing a live performance who then invites a young 20-year-old fan by the name of Courteney Cox on stage to dance with him towards the end of the video.
You can watch the video via the link below. Enjoy!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk8VZgJkpeg
Lyrics can be accessed here.
Chords can be accessed here.
Feel free to comment on this song and/or my review below.
