Adam Raised a Cain
Springsteen wrote a few songs about his father. He's explained in concert on many occasions that their relationship was complicated and troubled, not so different from many father-son relationships. He felt an inability to connect with his father and felt they were always at odds. He talks about arguements and incidents that occured over his adolescent years. Later in his career his characterization of his father changes, as he marries and has his own children. This change is evident as we'll follow his songs from Adam Raised a Cain to the later My Father's House on his Nebraska album. There's a lot of anger in his portrayal of his father's "working life." It's an element that is present in many of his songs. It's almost as if his music is exacting a sort of revenge for his father's pain.
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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 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
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
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
