Is a cover still a cover if the original songwriter never recorded it?
I’m gonna go with “yes,” because Darlene Love’s recording of the Springsteen-authored “Night Closing In” is too wonderful to ignore.
Bruce Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt had crossed paths with Love many times since the 1980s (and were fans long before), and Steve was determined to record an album with her. But life has a habit of getting in the way, and despite writing and producing her 1992 holiday song, “All Alone on Christmas,” Steve never quite got around to recording that album with her.
Until 2014, that is, when something stirred Steve into action. Calling in favors with friends like Elvis Costello, Joan Jett, and of course Bruce, Steve collected a group of songs that he arranged into a comeback album called (ironically) Introducing Darlene Love.
Bruce contributed two original songs to the project, one of which is the very Spectorish “Night Closing In.”
“Night Closing In” is a song of heartbreak. It’s about those first few days after a break-up, when you wake up in the morning and all seems right… until you remember.
The day provides its distractions, but the clock counts down to the night–and the night brings it all back home in a steamy final verse.
The morning light greets me when I wake
And for just one moment I forget my heartache
And the lonely lonely hours start wearing me thin
Baby I can feel the night
Baby I can feel the night
Baby I can feel the night, closing in
Get out of bed, put on my stockings and my skirt
Day by day and step by step I make it through work
Then there’s the sun, sinks down, that’s when the blues began
Baby I can feel the night
And baby I can feel the night
Baby I can feel the night, closing in
And into bed, naked under the sheets
I try not to think about you but I can feel the heat
And in the midnight hour, that’s when the blues began
And baby I can feel the night
Baby I can feel the night
Baby I can feel the night, closing in
We don’t know exactly when Bruce wrote “Night Closing In,” or whether he’s ever recorded it for himself (the song certainly seems written for a woman to sing, but Bruce has recorded songs from a female point of view before), but I can’t help but notice the musical similarity to “Loose Ends” in the opening sax solo, bridge, and coda.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the song dates much farther back than 2014. But that’s okay–with a performance and production like this one, we don’t need Bruce to release his own version.
This one is perfect as is.
Bonus: Here’s Darlene’s live performance of “Night Closing In” (with Little Steven) from shortly after her record release in 2015.
Night Closing In
Recorded: 2014-2015
Released: Introducing Darlene Love (2015)
Never performed live by Bruce
