Rocktober '70s Song #13: "Candy's Room" by Bruce Springsteen (1978)

I can't have a celebration of '70s rock without including something by The Boss.  After his first two albums didn't sell quite as well as he and his record company would have hoped, in 1975, Bruce Springsteen released what is arguably the finest American rock and roll album:  Born to Run.  His popularity exploded, and he became the superstar he has been since then.

But not all was well and good in Jersey.  After Born to Run, Springsteen and his former manager, Mike Appel, got into a bitter legal battle, which kept Springsteen out of the studio until it was resolved.  In the '70s, three years between albums was an eternity, but The Boss settled his dispute with Appel in 1977, and he and the E Street Band finally got back in the studio to record the follow up to Born to Run.

Darkness on the Edge of Town is grittier and darker (no pun intended) than Born to Run, and Springsteen's working-class themes and dreams of escaping to a better life continued.  He stayed true to himself, rather than get caught up in the tug-of-war between punk and disco.  He made a rock and roll record.  Even the album cover shows a guy who doesn't understand or want to be a part of punk or disco.  He just wants to get a beer after his shift at the factory ends and listen to the Stones.

There are many great songs on Darkness on the Edge of Town, but I'm going with "Candy's Room" because it's a great fucking song, but one that you never hear on the radio.  It starts off with a fast-paced high-hat beat, which almost makes you think it's going to be a disco rock song, but those fears are quickly dispelled by some spoken-word stanzas about Candy -- a woman who is beautiful and complicated.  It's a classic Springsteen or Roy Orbison narrative, as the working-class, down-to-earth guy is the one she wants, rather than the d-bags from the city who give her fancy presents.  This exact theme was made into dozens of movies in the '80s.

Musically, Max Weinberg's frenetic drumming drives the song and its Wall of Sound as we experience the euphoria of a guy who's outkicking his coverage, and maybe he knows it.  At 2:51, it's the second-shortest song on the album, and it almost has to be because we all know that Candy's feelings for the narrator are eventually going to give way to her material desires and her need to be taken care of.  But until then, it's going to be a torrential tryst while she gets it out of her system.  I think this song sticks out as one of the highlights among many great songs on the album.