Adam Raised a Cain

Album: Darkness On The Edge Of Town (1978)
Play Video
  • In the summer that I was baptized
    My father held me to his side
    As they put me into 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 (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)

    All of the old faces
    Asked 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 (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)

    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
    You inherit the sins, you inherit the flames
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)

    Lost but not forgotten, from the dark heart of a dream
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)
    Adam raised a Cain (yeah)

    Oh oh, oh oh oh oh
    Oh oh, oh oh oh oh
    Oh oh, oh oh oh oh
    Oh oh, oh oh oh oh

    Oh oh, oh oh oh oh
    Oh oh, oh oh oh oh (hey)
    Oh oh, oh oh oh oh (hey)
    Oh oh, oh oh oh oh (hey) Writer/s: Bruce Springsteen
    Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 6

  • Bob From South Jersey from ArizonaWhen I was a kid I thought Bruce wrote this song about me...he even got the make of the car right!
  • Mark from Worcester, MiMarc, Philadelphia-thanks. That helped.
  • Gene from San Diego, CaDefinitely a metaphor. Great song. Love the allusions.
  • Conor from Dublin, IrelandDOTEOT is Bruces best album by a distance ....
  • Sheldon from Toronto, CanadaThe first in a series of songs about his father. Listen to Adam Raised a Cain, Independance Day, My Father's House, My Hometown, Walk Like a Man and then Long Time Coming and you see a very interesting evolution from lyrics like "You're born into this life paying for the sins of somebody else's past" in Adam Raised a Cain to "Well if I had one wish for you in this god forsaken world, kid.It'd be that your mistakes will be your own. That your sins will be your own" in Long Time Comin
  • Marc from Philadelphia, PaThis song-- and much of the Darkness on the Edge of Town album-- is inspired by John Steinbeck's "East of Eden," which deals with a repeated father-and-sons story that mirrors a lot of Genesis.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

JJ Burnel of The Stranglers

JJ Burnel of The StranglersSongwriter Interviews

JJ talks about The Stranglers' signature sound - keyboard and bass - which isn't your typical strain of punk rock.

Tim McIlrath of Rise Against

Tim McIlrath of Rise AgainstSongwriter Interviews

Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath explains the meanings behind some of their biggest songs and names the sci-fi books that have influenced him.

Tom Waits Lyrics Quiz

Tom Waits Lyrics QuizMusic Quiz

Pool balls, magpies and thorns without roses - how well do you know your Tom Waits lyrics?

Dan Reed

Dan ReedSongwriter Interviews

Dan cracked the Top 40 with "Ritual," then went to India and spent 2 hours with the Dalai Lama.

Amy Grant

Amy GrantSongwriter Interviews

The top Contemporary Christian artist of all time on song inspirations and what she learned from Johnny Carson.

Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne

Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of WayneSongwriter Interviews

The guy who brought us "Stacy's Mom" also wrote the Jane Lynch Emmy song and Stephen Colbert's Christmas songs.