Springsteen’s jump from Born to Run to Darkness on the Edge of Town:

Musician Bruce Springsteen has an interesting relationship with religion; he was raised as a Catholic in New Jersey and has since become a lapsed Catholic, or a baptized but non-practicing Catholic. In an interview with Robert Duncan in a 1978 issue of Creem Magazine, Springsteen was asked if he felt religious and describes his relationship with Catholicism: “I was raised Catholic and everybody who was raised Catholic hates religion… but their kids go to Catholic school and church every Sunday. They’re really under the gun to this Catholic thing” (Duncan 1978). 

There is a noticeable use of Christianity in Springsteen’s music. In his 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town, Springsteen tackles deeper and more mature themes in comparison to his hit album Born to Run, which was its predecessor and released in 1975. One song in particular caught my attention; “Adam Raised a Cain” is about a father-son relationship, which Springsteen calls “emotionally biographical,” saying that his relationship with his own father was more complex than this song makes it out to be.

Adam Raised a Cain (verse 3):

In the Bible, mamma, Cain slew Abel and East of Eden, mamma, he was cast

You’re born into this life paying for the sins of somebody else’s past

Well Daddy worked his whole life for nothing but the pain

Now he walks these empty rooms looking for something to blame

But you inherit the sins, you inherit the flames

Adam raised a Cain (yeah)

Comparison between Genesis and the song:

 Springsteen uses this biblical story to describe a father-son relationship where the son feels trapped in his father’s path; he doesn’t want to be stuck like his father who “worked his whole life for nothing but the pain.” In the Bible, Adam was the first man created by God who experienced the Garden of Eden and being thrown out of it. Adam is almost God’s guinea pig for humanity; as the first man, he is subject to God’s guidance and criticism. After Cain kills Abel, he becomes cursed to wander the land forever and be unable to yield crops, which can be compared to how he’s inheriting the curses of humanity thus far in the Bible. In Springsteen’s song, the son is cursed to inherit his father’s sins: “you inherit the sins, you inherit the flames.” 

One interesting difference between the biblical story and Springsteen’s rendition is that the Bible tells a story about fraternity between Cain and Abel, whereas Springsteen tells a story about Cain and his father Adam. The Bible focuses on this story about a relationship between brothers gone wrong and Cain being the first sinner/murderer introduced in Christianity. In Springsteen’s song, Adam is seen as the antagonist, or a character that Cain does not want to become. This reflects Bruce’s relationship with his father, Doug Springsteen. 

Experiences with his own father:

Doug Springsteen was a verbally abusive character in Bruce’s childhood, causing trauma that followed Bruce into his adult life and even in raising his own children. The third verse of “Adam Raised a Cain” helps to paint a picture of Springsteen’s childhood; his father was often unemployed and drank every night, along with suffering from depression and paranoia as a World War II veteran. “Well Daddy worked his whole life for nothing but the pain/Now he walks these empty rooms looking for something to blame” describes the verbal abuse Springsteen experienced in his childhood, causing him to struggle and bottle up his traumas until he went to therapy in his forties for the first time. Springsteen spent his whole life trying to get out of New Jersey and shake his childhood experiences, but they will always stick with him, just like how Cain was cursed to be a wanderer by God after he killed Abel.

Springsteen’s interpretation of the biblical story of Cain and Abel helped to present his issues in a father-son relationship as opposed to telling a story about fraternity. He compares himself to Cain, the first sinner and murderer in the Bible, and his father to Adam, Cain’s father in the Bible who was not the main focus in the story of Cain and Abel. Another important aspect of this narrative is how Springsteen’s career is so focused on how he broke out of his lifestyle in New Jersey to do anything else with his life. This song helps to fuel Springsteen’s passion for pulling himself out of poverty and a traumatic childhood and compares it to the consequences of Cain from the Bible.

Springsteen performing his album, Darkness on the Edge of Town

Springsteen performing his album, Darkness on the Edge of Town

Anna Fellman is an economics and philosophy double major at Colgate University. Along with reading Genesis in class, she hosts a classic rock radio show through Colgate’s channel WRCU where she and her cohost discuss classic rock and the various influences in their music.