Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. After the colossal success of 1975's 'Born to Run', Bruce Springsteen took an unusually long time working on his next album, which would become 'Darkness on the Edge of Town'. What non-musical circumstances contributed to this hiatus?
2. Like several pieces on 'Darkness on the Edge of Town', this song's original draft was overwritten, having more verses than Springsteen could practically use. When he showed drafts of several potential final verses to his co-producers and bandmates, they unanimously picked "the one with the girl." What song, whose lyrical journey spans from the 7-11 store to the sea, is this?
3. Like many great live artists, Springsteen is known for reworking his songs in concert, often into virtually unrecognizable forms. One 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' cut has received this treatment intermittently over the years, transforming from an early-sixties style tune into a much longer hard-rock thrasher. What song is this that, like Springsteen standard "Rosalita," exhorts the singer's lover to flee her family and "meet me in the fields out behind the dynamo?"
4. When Springsteen was coming up, he had the honor of backing Chuck Berry (for one gig; Berry was notorious for not maintaining his own band, figuring that any local band would know all the Chuck Berry songs.) What track on 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' shares (most of) its title with a Chuck Berry number?
5. Many Springsteen songs are laced with Biblical allusions, but few are as explicit as this cut, which crosses the fourth chapter of Genesis (and its iconic characters' names) with the recession-era frustration of sons unable to leave their parents' homes. Which song is this?
6. Like much of the album, the title song is a brooding piece filled with anger and loss. What has the narrator lost that "doesn't seem to matter much to [him] now?"
7. What song on 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' features the line "It ain't no sin to be glad you're alive"?
8. 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' is notorious (with Springsteen's E Street Band, anyway) for how much material was composed and recorded for the album but ultimately left off; by one count, Springsteen wrote 70 songs for the record, of which ten made the cut. Which of these many outtakes eventually became punk goddess Patti Smith's first hit song?
9. Springsteen's body of work is enriched by a solid cadre of loyal musicians, though some have passed in and out of his bands over the years. Which of these Springsteen mainstays does NOT play on 'Darkness on the Edge of Town'?
10. Despite spawning five top ten singles, 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' was widely panned by critics, and today is largely regarded as "the album where Springsteen sold out."
Source: Author
stuthehistoryguy
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agony before going online.
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