Escrita por Bruce Springsteen, foi gravada em 25 de fevereiro de 1978 e lançada em 2 de junho de 1978, no disco Darkness on the edge of town, o quarto disco de Bruce. Saiu também em julho de 1978, em um compacto com Streets of fire como Lado B. Foi produzida por Bruce Springsteen e Jon Landau. O título veio antes da canção. O riff é baseado em Don't let me be misunderstood, dos Animals. Pega também a ferocidade da música punk, que Bruce estava ouvindo no momento. Fala de um homem sem sorte e que está com raiva do mundo. Chegou ao número 42 do Billboard Hot 100. Rolling Stone Magazine disse que Badlands era a segunda melhor música de Bruce, perdedo apeas pra Born to run. Bruce cantou e tocou guitarra. Roy Bittan tocou piano. Clarence Clemons tocou sax. Danny Federici tocou órgão. Garry Tallent tocou baixo. Steven Va Zandt tocou guitarra e fez backing vocals. Max Weinberg tocou bateria.
A letra:
Lights
out tonight
Trouble in the heartland
Got a head-on
collision
Smashin' in my guts, man
I'm caught in a
crossfire
That I don't understand
But there's one thing I know
for sure, girl
I don't give a damn
For the same old
played out scenes
I don't give a damn
For just the
in-betweens
Honey, I want the heart, I want the soul
I want
control right now
You better listen to me, baby
Talk about a dream
Try to make it
real
You wake up in the night
With a fear so real
You spend
your life waiting
For a moment that just don't come
Well, don't
waste your time waiting
Badlands, you gotta live it
everyday
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price you've gotta
pay
Keep pushin' 'til it's understood
And these badlands start
treating us good
Workin' in the fields
'Til you get
your back burned
Workin' 'neath the wheels
'Til you get your
facts learned
Baby, I got my facts
Learned real good right
now
You better get it straight, darling
Poor man wanna be rich
Rich man
wanna be king
And a king ain't satisfied
'Til he rules
everything
I wanna go out tonight
I wanna find out what I got
Well, I believe in the love that you
gave me
I believe in the faith that could save me
I believe in
the hope
And I pray that some day
It may raise me above these
Badlands, you gotta live it
everyday
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price you've gotta
pay
Keep pushin' 'til it's understood
And these badlands start
treating us good
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
For the ones who had a notion
A
notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin
To be glad you're
alive
I wanna find one face
That ain't looking through me
I
wanna find one place
I wanna spit in the face of these
Badlands, you gotta live it
everyday
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price you've gotta
pay
Keep movin' 'til it's understood
And these badlands start
treating us good
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Badlands
Whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa
Badlands
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Badlands
Whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa
Badlands
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa
Badlands
Whoa, whoa,
whoa, whoa
A versão de Bruce Springsteen:
A versão de Stevie Rees and Wyatt Edmondson:
A versão de Bebe Browning: