"Adam Raised a Cain" is the second track from

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

's fourth album ''

Darkness on the Edge of Town ''Darkness on the Edge of Town'' is the fourth studio album by American rock singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, released on June 2, 1978, by Columbia Records. The album marked the end of a three-year gap between albums brought on by contractua ...

''.

Composition and lyrics

The song is notable for its

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

sound and lyrics that use biblical images to explain the relationship between a father and son (symbolised as

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

and his son,

Cain Cain ''Káïn''; ar, قابيل/قايين, Qābīl/Qāyīn is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He wa ...

). Springsteen calls this song "emotionally autobiographical." The bitter but loving relationship between the father and son is similar to Springsteen's with his own father, Douglas. Springsteen once said: "Our actual relationship was probably more complicated than how I presented it. Those songs were ways that I spoke to my father at the time, because he didn't speak and we didn't talk very much." Adam Raised A Cain by Bruce Springsteen
Songfacts In the 2010 documentary '' The Promise: The Making of Darkness on the Edge of Town'', sound mixer

Chuck Plotkin Charles Richard Plotkin (born September 8, 1942) is a recording engineer and producer, best known for his work with Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan. Recording engineer Plotkin has recorded, engineered, mastered and produced albums by Bruce Spr ...

described Springsteen's instructions for how the jarring assault of this song should sound next to the more melodic tunes on ''Darkness''. Springsteen told Plotkin to think of a movie showing two lovers having a picnic, when the scene suddenly cuts to a dead body. This song, the singer explained, is that body. Springsteen and the E Street Band released a longer version of the song on their 1986

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

'' Live/1975–85''.

Use in the media

The song was used in the film ''

Baby It's You "Baby It's You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach (music), Luther Dixon (credited as Barney Williams), and Mack David (lyrics). It was recorded by the Shirelles and the Beatles, and was a hit for both. The highest-charting version of "Baby I ...

'', directed by

John Sayles John Thomas Sayles (born September 28, 1950) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, editor, actor, and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for ''Passion Fish'' (1992) and ''L ...

, who would also direct Springsteen's video clips for "

Born in the U.S.A. ''Born in the U.S.A.'' is the seventh studio album by American recording artist Bruce Springsteen, released by Columbia Records on June 4, 1984. It topped the charts in nine countries, including the US and UK, becoming his most commercially su ...

", "

I'm on Fire "I'm on Fire" is a song written and performed by American rock performer Bruce Springsteen. Released in 1985, it was the fourth single from his album ''Born in the U.S.A.'' History "I'm on Fire" was first recorded in January 1982 during the fir ...

" and " Glory Days". The song was used in Season 7 during the opening scene of episode 13 "Papa's Goods," the series finale of ''

Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008 to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club ope ...

''. The creator of ''Sons of Anarchy''

Kurt Sutter Kurt Leon Sutter (born May 5, 1960) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor. He worked as a producer, writer, and director on ''The Shield,'' and appeared on the show as hitman Margos Dezerian. Sutter is also the creator of ' ...

originally wanted to use the song as a cover in the final episode of Season 3, but there were issues with licensing from

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

and Springsteen did not like the idea of a cover of his song. An agreement was finally reached where the song would be played in its original version for the series finale.

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: *

– vocals, guitars *

Roy Bittan Roy J. Bittan (born July 2, 1949) is an American musician best known as a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Professor", Bittan joined the E Street Band in 1974. He plays the piano, organ, accordion and synthe ...

– piano *

Clarence Clemons Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. (January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011), also known as The Big Man, was an American musician and actor. From 1972 until his death in 2011, he was the saxophonist for The E Street Band. Clemons released several s ...

– percussion, backing vocals *

Danny Federici Daniel Paul Federici (January 23, 1950 – April 17, 2008) was an American musician, best known as the organ, glockenspiel, and accordion player and a founding member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. In 2014, Federici was posthumously induct ...

– organ *

Garry Tallent Garry Wayne Tallent (born October 27, 1949), sometimes billed as Garry W. Tallent, is an American musician and record producer, best known for being bass player and founding member of the E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band si ...

– bass *

Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin ...

– guitars, backing vocals *

Max Weinberg Max Weinberg (born April 13, 1951) is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' a ...

– drums *The band – backing vocals

References

{{authority control 1978 songs Bruce Springsteen songs Song recordings produced by Jon Landau Songs written by Bruce Springsteen Song recordings produced by Bruce Springsteen