Heart of Noise

Not technically a gig this week, but wanted to post this to ya’ll before it goes off line (only available till 28th December people!)

I’ve just watched Darkness Revisited - a music doc about the making of Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness on the Edge of Town album - the follow up to 1975’s Born to Run. The album was almost three years in the making - between 1976 and 1978 - during which Bruce came up with literally hundreds of songs with his band, recording and recording again, then meticulously sifting through what he had written until coming up with what he calls “an austere, apocalyptic grandeur”.

I was only intending to watch the first five minutes of this, but was hooked from the start. Much of the film is is made up of archive footage from the recording studio, showing various debates - one about the specific sound of a drum, which lasted for days - as well as Bruce bashing out brilliant songs on the piano, which were never heard again. But there’s also recent interviews with Bruce, the band and producers (as well as a cameo from Patti Smith, whose only hit record was written by Springsteen).

Towards the end there’s a really moving insight into what the 27 year old songwriter wanted to represent in this record. Speaking now with the benefit of hindsight, he says he was no longer obsessed with running away from what you know, but sticking with it; compromising enough of your desires to be responsible to your family, your work, your community, but not so much that you begin to become a different person.

Enjoy!