Exclusive: Springsteen on Unheard 'Darkness' Tracks

On November 16th, Bruce Springsteen will release his sprawling The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story 3-CD/3-DVD set, which features a remastered version of the classic 1978 album, a feature-length documentary about its creation and hours of live footage, but the real highlight may be a collection of 21 previously unreleased tracks recorded during the Darkness sessions. These songs, collectively called The Promise (The Lost Session: Darkness on the Edge of Town), will also be released as a separate 2-CD set.

Behind the scenes of Springsteen's Darkness sessions

"Rather than being a record of outtakes, it's a separate record. It's a fully realized, separate piece of our history," Springsteen says in The Promise trailer above — the first of several exclusive items about the release you"ll see on RollingStone.com in the coming weeks.

"It was sort of a collection of material that ... the one thing it had in common was that it didn't get on the record, which meant it was probably a little more maybe genre-based soul music, garage rock. Amazingly, when we put it all together, you realize it holds up as a double record pretty well."

Watch the video above to hear Springsteen talk about the collection and hear excerpts of the unreleased tracks "Ain't Good Enough For You," "Racing in the Street ('78)" and Springsteen's studio version of his hit collaboration with Patti Smith, "Because the Night."

RollingStone.com will have much more exclusive Darkness material in the coming weeks — and don"t miss Brian Hiatt"s Q&A with Bruce in the next issue of Rolling Stone.

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Song Stories

“Youth Knows No Pain”

Lykke Li | 2011

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”

More Song Stories entries »

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