Dancing in the Dark (Bruce Springsteen song)

Springsteen wrote "Dancing In the Dark" overnight, after Jon Landau convinced him that the album needed a single. According to journalist Dave Marsh in the book Glory Days, Springsteen was not impressed with Landau's approach. "Look", he snarled, "I've written seventy songs. You want another one, you write it." Despite this reaction, Springsteen sat in his hotel room and wrote the song in a single night. It sums up his state of mind, his feeling of isolation after the success of his album The River, and his frustrations of trying to write a hit single. Six takes of "Dancing in the Dark" were recorded on February 14, 1984, at The Hit Factory, and after 58 mixes, work was completed on March 8, 1984. The 12-inch single was released May 9, 1984, and was the highest-selling 12-inch single in the US that year.{{cite book |last1=Marsh |first1=Dave |title=Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s |url=https://archive.org/details/glorydaysbruces00mars |url-access=registration |date=1987 |publisher=Pantheon Books |location=New York |isbn=0-394-54668-7}}{{cite web |title=Born In the U.S.A. Studio Sessions |url=http://brucebase.wikidot.com/stats:born-in-the-usa-studio-sessions |website=Brucebase |access-date=August 22, 2019 |archive-date=August 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190824144313/http://brucebase.wikidot.com/stats:born-in-the-usa-studio-sessions |url-status=live }}

Cash Box said that the song "is classic Springsteen: gutsy vocals set to a hard-driving backbeat" and "an added surprise is the addition of the synthesizer to the inspired playing of the E-Street Band."{{cite magazine|title=Reviews|magazine=Cash Box|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1984/CB-1984-05-19.pdf|date=May 19, 1984|accessdate=2022-07-23|page=12}}

Released as a single prior to the album's release, the song entered both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Cash Box Top 100 charts on May 26, 1984, at No. 36 and No. 25 respectively. On June 30, 1984, it began its four week stay at No. 2 on Billboard, behind "The Reflex" by Duran Duran and "When Doves Cry" by Prince, which was 1984's song of the summer.{{cite magazine |author= |title=Hot 100 |magazine=Billboard |location=New York |publisher=Billboard Publications, Inc. |date=June 30, 1984 |page=60}}Marsh, Glory Days, p. 219. That same week, it reached No. 1 on Cash Box, where it stayed for two weeks.{{cite web |url=http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/80s_files/19840630.html |title=CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending JUNE 30, 1984 |access-date=June 12, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120930235056/http://cashboxmagazine.com/archives/80s_files/19840630.html |archive-date=September 30, 2012 }}. Cash Box magazine. It was also the first of a record-tying seven top 10 hit singles to be released from Born in the U.S.A. "Dancing in the Dark" also held the No. 1 spot for six weeks on Billboard's Top Tracks chart.Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), p. 593. The song reached No. 1 on the Radio & Records CHR and AOR airplay charts."National Airplay" Radio & Records June 29, 1984: 88

"Dancing in the Dark" also had worldwide success. It became Australia's highest-selling single of 1984 (despite peaking at number five on the Kent Music Report), peaking at No. 1 in Belgium and the Netherlands, and charting within the top 10 in seven other countries.

In the UK, the song peaked at No. 4. It was the 29th-best-selling single of the year.{{cite magazine|title=Top 100 Singles|magazine=Music Week|publisher=Spotlight Publications|location=London, England|page=10|date=January 18, 1986}}

The recording also won Springsteen his first Grammy Award, picking up the prize for Best Rock Vocal Performance in 1985.{{cite web |url=http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=%22bruce+springsteen%22&field_nominee_work_value=%22dancing+in+the+dark%22&year=All&genre=All |title=Winners |author= |website=Grammy.com |publisher=The Recording Academy |access-date=October 15, 2015 |archive-date=September 14, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160914033312/http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=%22bruce%20springsteen%22&field_nominee_work_value=%22dancing%20in%20the%20dark%22&year=All&genre=All |url-status=live }} In the 1984 Rolling Stone readers poll, "Dancing in the Dark" was voted "Single of the Year"."Readers' Poll" Rolling Stone February 28, 1985: 26 The track has since gone on to earn further recognition and is as such listed one of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.{{cite web |title=Experience the Music: One Hit Wonders and the Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll |author= |url=http://rockhall.com/ |publisher=he Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc. |access-date=July 21, 2019 |archive-date=February 26, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226130711/http://rockhall.com/ |url-status=live }}

In 2024, the song was re-popularized by English football fans during the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament who sang it with adapted lyrics paying tribute to midfielder Phil Foden.{{cite news |last1=Jordan |first1=Chris |title=Springsteen song 'Dancing in the Dark' inspiring England fans at Euro 2024 in Germany |url=https://www.app.com/story/entertainment/music/2024/06/17/bruce-springsteen-dancing-in-the-dark-inspires-england-soccer-fans/74125759007/ |access-date=2024-07-21 |work=Asbury Park Press |date=17 June 2024}} As a result, Springsteen's original recording returned to the UK singles chart, reaching No. 36.{{cite web |title=Springsteen's Dancing In The Dark enters Top 40 for first time in four decades |url=https://www.music-news.com/news/UK/175319/Springsteen-s-Dancing-In-The-Dark-enters-Top-40-for-first-time-in-four-decades |website=Music-News.com |access-date=2024-07-21 |date=19 July 2024}}

In a first-for-Springsteen effort to gain dance and club play for his music, Arthur Baker{{cite book |title=Bruce Springsteen: Two Hearts : The Definitive Biography, 1972–2003 |first=Dave |last=Marsh |publisher=Psychology Press |year=2004 |page=491}} created the 12-inch "Blaster Mix" of "Dancing in the Dark", wherein he reworked the album version. The remix was released on July 2, 1984. The result generated a lot of media buzz for Springsteen, as well as actual club play; the remix went to #7 on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, and had the most sales of any 12-inch single in the United States in 1984.

Directed by Brian De Palma, the video was shot at the Saint Paul Civic Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on June 28 and 29, 1984. The first night was a pure video shoot, the second was on the opening date of the Born in the U.S.A. Tour. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed the song twice during that show to allow De Palma to get all the footage he needed. The video is a straight performance video, with Springsteen not playing a guitar, allowing him to invite a young woman from the audience, performed by Courteney Cox, to dance along with him on the stage at the end. Although De Palma had told him that it was she whom he was supposed to select, Springsteen thought she was just a pre-selected fan attending and did not know until afterward{{cite web |url=http://www.startribune.com/in-new-memoir-springsteen-recalls-opening-born-in-usa-tour-in-st-paul/394905041/ |title=In new memoir, Springsteen recalls opening Born in USA Tour in St. Paul |last=Bream |first=Jon |date=September 27, 2016 |website=startribune.com |publisher=Star Tribune |access-date=April 21, 2018 |archive-date=September 29, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160929120623/http://www.startribune.com/in-new-memoir-springsteen-recalls-opening-born-in-usa-tour-in-st-paul/394905041/ |url-status=live }} that she was a professional actress, brought in from New York City, who had already played in As the World Turns.{{cite book |last=Onofrio |first=Jan |date=1998 |title=Alabama Biographical Dictionary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S3GLWEaxpVYC&pg=PA90 |publisher=Somerset Publishers |page=90 |isbn=9780403098118}} Despite this Cox has stated that she was one of many that Springsteen could have selected and that she was secretly hoping to not be picked.{{Cite video |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVciOXYDlqg |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211219/fVciOXYDlqg |archive-date=December 19, 2021 |url-status=live|title=The one where Courteney Cox doesn't want to dance with The Boss|date=March 25, 2017 |publisher=YouTube |author=theoffcanerashow}}{{cbignore}}

The video initially included a storyline in which Cox and several of her friends were getting ready to go to the concert with one of them getting picked. Vignettes were shot for this although they remained unused. In September 1985, the video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Stage Performance{{cite magazine|date=September 28, 1985|title=Volume 97 No. 38, DECEMBER 28, 1985|url=http://www.americanradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/80s/1985/BB-1985-09-28.pdf|magazine=Billboard|page=40|location=New York, NY, USA|access-date=September 2, 2016}} and was nominated for Best Overall Performance. Actor Alfonso Ribeiro later claimed to have drawn inspiration from Cox's dancing in the video in developing "The Carlton" for his character in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.{{cite web|url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/328287|title=The 'Fortnite' Dance Lawsuits Are Close to Falling Apart|first1=Daniel|last1=Cooper|work=Entrepreneur|date=February 15, 2019|access-date=December 3, 2020|archive-date=May 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200516095545/https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/328287|url-status=live}}

On the 2009 Working on a Dream Tour, the song appeared intermittently during the encores. However, Springsteen for the first time played a number of music festivals during the routing, and "Dancing in the Dark" closed all of them: Pinkpop Festival, Bonnaroo Music Festival, Glastonbury Festival, and Hard Rock Calling. When played live in recent years, the song features a harder, guitar-driven sound, with the distinctive synthesizer riff being supplied by Soozie Tyrell's violin.{{Citation needed|date=December 2013}}

During the 2012 tour the song again became a regular at live shows with audience members selected to dance not just with Springsteen (reenacting the Courteney Cox scene from the video), but with other band members too, especially new band member Jake Clemons.[http://metro.co.uk/2016/06/06/bruce-springsteen-danced-with-a-dude-dressed-like-courteney-cox-to-dancing-in-the-dark-and-it-was-epic-5925960/ Bruce Springsteen danced with a dude dressed like Courteney Cox to Dancing In The Dark and it was epic] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505141802/http://metro.co.uk/2016/06/06/bruce-springsteen-danced-with-a-dude-dressed-like-courteney-cox-to-dancing-in-the-dark-and-it-was-epic-5925960/ |date=May 5, 2018 }}, Metro, June 6, 2016[https://www.insideedition.com/headlines/14483-bruce-springsteen-helps-pregnant-fan-complete-bucket-list-by-dancing-with-her-on-stage Bruce Springsteen Helps Pregnant Fan Complete Bucket List By Dancing With Her On Stage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180505135049/https://www.insideedition.com/headlines/14483-bruce-springsteen-helps-pregnant-fan-complete-bucket-list-by-dancing-with-her-on-stage |date=May 5, 2018 }}, Inside Edition, February 4, 2016[https://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/dancing-in-the-dark-at-88-with-bruce-springsteen-1.2763194 'Dancing in the Dark,' at 88, with Bruce Springsteen], CTV News, February 3, 2016 Springsteen family members appeared on stage for this song on occasion, with mother Adele doing the "Courteney Cox" dance at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia at the start of the tour,The Hollywood Reporter, March 30, 2012 and daughter Jessica dancing on stage with him in Paris on July 5.{{cite web |url=http://brucebase.wikidot.com/gig:2012-07-05-palais-omnisports-paris-france |title=Brucebase – 2012 |publisher=Brucebase.wikidot.com |access-date=June 26, 2015 |archive-date=January 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190128025705/http://brucebase.wikidot.com/gig:2012-07-05-palais-omnisports-paris-france |url-status=live }}

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon, and the album's liner notes:{{cite book |last1=Margotin |first1=Philippe |last2=Guesdon |first2=Jean-Michel |title=Bruce Springsteen All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nrlRzQEACAAJ |date=2020 |publisher=Cassell Illustrated |location=London |isbn=978-1-78472-649-2 |page=250 |access-date=October 4, 2022 |archive-date=February 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230226235802/https://books.google.com/books?id=nrlRzQEACAAJ |url-status=live }}{{Cite AV media notes|title=Born in the U.S.A.|author=Columbia Records|others=Bruce Springsteen|year=1984|publisher=Columbia Records|location=U.S.|type=LP liner notes|id=QC 38653}}

• Bruce Springsteen – vocals, guitar
• Roy Bittan – synthesizer, piano
• Clarence Clemons – saxophone, percussion
• Danny Federici - organ
• Garry Tallent – bass
• Max Weinberg – drums

1. "Dancing in the Dark" – 3:59
2. "Pink Cadillac" – 3:33

1. "Dancing in the Black Dark" – 3:59
2. "Pink Cadillac" – 3:33

(*Car-shaped picture disc released in the UK, featuring a pink Cadillac on the front side)

1. "Dancing in the Dark" (Blaster Mix) – 6:09
2. "Dancing in the Dark" (Radio) – 4:50
3. "Dancing in the Dark" (Dub) – 5:30

1. "Dancing in the Dark" (Extended Remix) – 6:09
2. "Pink Cadillac" – 3:33

• The B-side of the single, "Pink Cadillac", was a comic rockabilly tale about the virtues (and vices) of a colourful Cadillac; in 1988 it became a #5 hit for Natalie Cole.

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• List of number-one hits of 1985 (Flanders)
• List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1985
• List of Billboard Mainstream Rock number-one songs of 1984
• List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1984

{{reflist|30em}}

• Born in the U.S.A. Tour (tour booklet, 1984), Springsteen chronology.
• Born in the U.S.A. The World Tour (tour booklet, 1985), Tour chronology.
• Marsh, Dave. Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s. Pantheon Books, 1987. {{ISBN|0-394-54668-7}}.

{{Bruce Springsteen songs}}

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Category:1984 songs

Category:1984 singles

Category:Bruce Springsteen songs

Category:Dance-rock songs

Category:Cashbox number-one singles

Category:Number-one singles in Belgium

Category:Dutch Top 40 number-one singles

Category:Songs written by Bruce Springsteen

Category:Song recordings produced by Jon Landau

Category:Columbia Records singles

Category:Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance

Category:Songs about dancing

Category:Song recordings produced by Bruce Springsteen

Category:Song recordings produced by Steven Van Zandt

Category:Song recordings produced by Chuck Plotkin

Category:Synth rock songs

Category:Music videos shot in the United States