10 Rock Songs With Horrible Backstories

Bruce Springsteen had been run ragged for the back half of the '70s before eventually making Nebraska. After Darkness on the Edge of Town showed us the burnt out Springsteen that came after Born to Run blew up, this was the kind of intimate Springsteen that only seemed reserved for him when he was fleshing out songs on his own. When you get to the title track, there's a level of darkness that not even the E Street Band could have helped with.

Instead of the usual slice of life songs that we were used to from the Boss, this is the real life story of Charles Starkweather, who became famous for going on a killing spree in the late '50s, eventually leading to the deaths of 11 people. This is the kind of thing that you'd normally see on crime dramas late at night, but Springsteen makes the strange choice of actually sympathizing with the cold blooded murderer.

Framing the song in his shoes, there's a personal touch to these lyrics, as if you're just watching the story of a boy with his life ahead of him make that one fatal decision that sentenced him to death in the electric chair. The only reasoning that the Boss gives for Starkweather's actions was the meanness that exists in the world. 40 years on, I don't think even Springsteen realized how right he was.