The Story Behind How “Dancing in the Dark” by Bruce Springsteen Came to Be

When you learn that Bruce Springsteen had written 70 songs for his 1984 Born in the USA album, but none were deemed “standout first single” worthy, the lyrics of “Dancing in the Dark” become even more profound. Springsteen’s manager, Jon Landau, made that determination as they were finalizing the album’s track list, reports Billboard. Springsteen’s response to Landau, “I’ve written 70 songs,” according to Dave Marsh’s biography Glory Days: The Bruce Springsteen Story. “If you want another, you write it.”

His frustration was evident. Springsteen had worked on Born in the USA for two years and was nearing the finish line when Landau delivered the news that the album needed more, according to E Street Shuffle.

“Jon [Landau] had been bothering me to write a single, which is something he rarely does,” Springsteen told Bill Flanagan in April 1987. “But he did that day. And he wanted something direct. That seemed to be what he was hitting on me for at the time. I was angry. I had written a lot of songs and was kind of fed up with the whole thing. We’d been making the record for a long time, and I was bored with the whole situation.

“That particular night, I came home and sat on the edge of my bed, and the thing I remember thinking first was that we had a record, but it wasn’t necessarily finished; I could change the whole thing right now if I wanted to,” he added.

“That’s all I remember thinking: if I wanted to, I could do something right now that would change the whole thing,” recalled Springsteen.

One can almost picture Springsteen’s body, radiating exhaustion, as he sat down to write song No. 71 for Born in the USA. Some accounts say he wrote it in one night.

Little wonder Springsteen is quoted in Billboard as saying the song turned out to be “my own alienation, fatigue, and desire to get out from inside the studio, my room, my record, my head and … live.”

The song resonated with listeners, especially those in the US. The US economy was in a slump, jobs had dried up, and it seemed rural America was on the brink of disaster. On June 30, 1984, the song spent its first of four weeks at its No. 2 peak on the Billboard Hot 100. That was Springsteen’s highest showing on the chart as an artist.

The song was released during a US Presidential election year. President Ronald Reagan alluded to Born in the USA during a campaign stop in New Jersey. “America’s future,” Reagan announced, according to LouderSound, “rests in the message of hope in the songs of a man so many young Americans admire—New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen.”

A few days later, Springsteen spoke to a Pittsburgh audience about the mention. “Well, the president was mentioning my name in a speech the other day, and I kind of got to wondering what his favorite album of mine must’ve been, you know, Springsteen said, according to LouderSound. “ I don’t think he’s been listening to this one.”

The song he played was “Johnny 99” from the album Nebraska. The song is about a downtrodden person in despair over losing a job at a local auto plant.

At that time, Springsteen was resurfacing from some professional and personal struggles. But things had started to turn around for Springsteen, at least publicly, by 1984. Arguably, that reemergence is evident in the video for the song when a smiling Springsteen pulls a young Courtney Cox from the audience to dance with him as the E Street Band plays.

The actress, who went on to co-star in the TV show Friends, discussed her audition for the video on The Howard Stern Show.

“I thought I was in the wrong place,” Cox said of showing up to the audition and being surrounded by professional dancers, according to ET Online. “I was like, ‘I don’t know what they’re doing, but I can’t even bend my leg. Like, this is it.’

“I went into [director] Brian De Palma’s office, he put on the music and said, ‘Will you dance?’ I thought, ‘Right now, here, in front of you, just the two of us?’” she remembered. “It was so embarrassing. I think that’s why I got it, because I was literally like [nervously saying], ‘OK.’ I think that’s what they wanted, a fan that just couldn’t believe it.”

Later in the conversation, she says: “I do feel like when I watch the video, when I see it, I mean, God, did you see my dance? It was pathetic,” she said. “I’m not a bad dancer, but that was horrible. I was so nervous.”

Springsteen’s live shows often culminate with “Dancing in the Dark,” which the Financial Times calls “a celebration,” although a dark one. Those listening to the up-tempo tune featuring a rising synth line might not realize just how dark it is.

When Springsteen performs the song on the opening night of the Born in the USA Tour in St. Paul, Minnesota, and pulls Cox onstage, he seems like a man whose personal background has shifted to bright multi-colors.

Photo by Paul Natkin/WireImage