In early 1983, Bruce was hard at work on the album that would become Born in the U.S.A.
This was a particularly prolific songwriting period for Bruce; in addition to the twelve songs that made the final cut, another twenty were subsequently released on B-sides, box sets, and compilations.
But there are dozens more that are still unreleased–officially, that is. Some of the holdbacks have escaped into the wild, though, and one of the most compelling is “Fugitive’s Dream.”
“Fugitive’s Dream” has a lot of shared DNA with “Unsatisfied Heart,” another contemporaneous outtake, and I strongly recommend that you read my essay on that song for more of the backstory and comparison between the two.
But while “Unsatisfied Heart” may be the catchier and more well-known of the sibling outtakes, “Fugitive’s Dream” is the one that will haunt you long after you listen to it.
So go ahead–give it a listen, and then we’ll break it down.
“Fugitive’s Dream” is nothing short of stunning. If not for the date stamp on the recording (early 1983), one might naturally assume that the song and the recording hail from Bruce’s Nebraska period. It’s certainly as dark, brave, and fully realized as any of the classics from Bruce’s 1982 landmark album.
Like “Unsatisfied Heart,” we open with a classic Springsteen introduction. In “Downbound Train” and “Dead Man Walkin’,” Bruce would reduce it to “I had a job, I had a girl; I had something going, Mister, in this world.” Here, however, it’s:
Sir, I am a pilgrim and a stranger in this land
Once I had a home here, my salvation was at hand
I lived in a fine home, I was respected and satisfied
I had two beautiful children and a kind and loving wife
The second verse is almost identical to “Unsatisfied Heart” as well, until the last line, where we get the foreboding sense that “Fugitive’s Dream” is travelling an even darker path.
Then one day a man came to town, a man with nothing and nowhere to go
He came to my door and mentioned something I’d done a long time ago
I allowed him into my home on his vow that nothing would be said
One night I rose from a dreamless sleep and I went to his bed
In “Unsatisfied Heart,” the narrator is equally disturbed by the mysterious visitor’s blackmail threat. But in that song, the narrator swallows his panic and tries to reconcile his secret past with his new life; in “Fugitive’s Dream,” the narrator decides to take action–for a frightening moment, at least:
I watched as he lay sleeping, I reached out and touched his cheek
Felt a chill run through my bones, and I fled into the street
Unable to follow through with his urge to kill the threat in his home, he runs. And if he ever comes back, we never find out.
I woke up in a motel room with the light rushin’ in
Like someone had thrust open a door and closed it tight again
I tried to understand why I felt these things that I felt
And why I walked these streets at night a stranger to myself
Last night the same dream keeps coming around
I’m standing high in the green hills looking across to the outskirts of town
The night air fills my lungs, the wind sweeps around me so strong
Stars rise in a black endless sky, grow brighter and brighter then gone, gone, gone
That last verse is identical to “Unsatisfied Heart” as well–at least most of it is. Even if the narrator of “Unsatisfied Heart” is never fully able to answer the question posed in the song’s refrain (“Can you live with an unsatisfied heart?”) the memory that haunts him is one of love and peace.
Here, however, it’s not just the distant past that the narrator must now carry as a burden–it’s the knowledge that he came close to killing a man to keep his secret buried. And while it’s true that he ultimately didn’t go through with it, the songwriter hardly sees that as a victory. The dimming stars symbolize the encroaching darkness in the narrator’s soul and foretell a future that is anything but peaceful.
Fugitive’s Dream
Recorded: January-March 1983
Never released
Never performed
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