Escrita por Bruce Springsteen, foi gravada entre novembro de 1977 e fevereiro de 1978, e lançada no disco Darkness on the edge of town, o quarto de Bruce, em 2 de junho de 1978. Foi produzida por Bruce e Jon Landau. É um rock pesado que usa letras com imagens bíblicas pra explicar a relação entre um pai e um filho, simbolizado aqui por Adão e Caim. Bruce disse que essa era uma música emocionalmente autobiográfica. A relação amorosa e amarga entre pai e filho da canção é similar com a que ele teve com o próprio pai, Douglas. Bruce disse que essa música foi uma forma de falar com o pai, pois o pai não falava e eles não conversava muito. Bruce cantou e tocou guitarra. Roy Bittan tocou piano. Clarence Clemons tocou percussão e fez backing vocals. Danny Federici tocou órgão. Garry Tallent tocou baixo. Steven Van Zandt tocou guitarra e fez backing vocals. Max Weinberg tocou bateria. The Band fez backing vocals.
A letra:
In
the summer that I was baptized
My father held me to his side
As
they put me to the water
He said how on that day I cried
We
were prisoners of love, a love in chains
He was standin' in the
door I was standin' in the rain
With the same hot blood burning in
our veins
Adam raised a Cain
Adam raised a Cain
Adam
raised a Cain
Adam raised a Cain
All of the old faces
Ask
you why you're back
They fit you with position
And the keys to
your daddy's Cadillac
In the darkness of your room
Your
mother calls you by your true name
You remember the faces, the
places, the names
You know it's never over it's relentless as the
rain
Adam raised a Cain
Adam raised a Cain
Adam raised a
Cain
Adam raised a Cain
In the Bible brother Cain slew
Abel
And East of Eden mama he was cast
You're born into this
life paying
For the sins of somebody else's past
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
Adam raised
a Cain
Adam raised a Cain
Adam raised a Cain
Lost but
not forgotten, from the dark heart of a dream
Adam raised a
Cain
Adam raised a Cain
Adam raised a Cain
Adam raised a
Cain
Adam raised a Cain
Adam raised a Cain
Adam raised a
Cain
A versão de Bruce Springsteen: