And they needed a Number One to ignite the rocket they knew they were sitting on. Jon Landau knew that this could be the album to catapult his client from stardom to immortality, but it was missing one important component: a hit single.Īs it would turn out, the album already had six of them, but none of them had the potential to make it all the way to #1. He’d written and recorded more than seventy songs (some sources suggest as much as 86) and after countless debates and Sophie’s choices he’d finally whittled them down to eleven.īut his manager wasn’t satisfied. He’d been working on his latest album for more than two years, and he was so close to the end that he could taste it. In the early months of 1984, Bruce felt stuck in a serious rut. He changed the whole thing, and his life would never be the same again. The next time you’re stuck in a rut, take a lesson from Bruce Springsteen. That’s all I remember thinking: if I wanted to I could do something right now that would change the whole thing…” –Bruce Springsteen to Bill Flanagan, April 1987 That particular night I came home and sat on the edge of my bed and the thing I remember thinking first was that we had a record, but it wasn’t necessarily finished I could change the whole thing right now if I wanted to. We’d been making the record for a long time and I was bored with the whole situation. I had written a lot of songs and was kind of fed up with the whole thing. That seemed to be what he was hitting on me for at the time. If you’re curious about the world that Joji so beautifully crafted and put out for us to stream, take a listen to “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK” and let yourself fall in deep.“Jon had been bothering me to write a single, which is something he rarely does. With “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK”, Joji created the perfect haven between the two soundscapes and allows each and every listener to float in the space between. Interspersed with breaks of silence and short snippets of MUSIC, this track, with all of its bending and pulling of sound, walks the line between magical and overwhelming. Once we hit the climax of the song, it seems as though Joji just threw us into a whirlwind of dings and bright sounds and more so, a whirlwind of emotions. So, if the feeling alone from listening to the track wasn’t enough, the lyrics definitely make it even darker and richer. Much like a slow dance where you can’t see your partner’s face, Joji feels disconnected from his partner in his relationship, despite the intimacy that’s already there. Written to be a lovelorn narrative, Joji’s “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK” is actually a metaphor for a failing relationship. And to top it off, the tension that builds up to the chorus, when finally resolved, mimics the feeling of jumping from 50ft feet in the air and then learning you can fly. Joji’s nonchalant singing voice with the occasional heart-wrenching notes also gives in to the magical, larger-than-life feel of the track. From the beginning, the track shimmers and sparkles like what you’d imagine to be the soundtrack of the stars. Almost like chimes, the track swells and compresses again and again, giving the illusion of a swaying movement and a trance-like feeling. Starting out with a chill, punchy bass and seemingly fuzzy and glowing synths, the song has the ability to transport any listener to another world. “SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK” is one of those songs. There are very few songs that have the ability to completely pull listeners from their environment, get them out of their heads, and fully immerse them in the artist’s soundscape.
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