Nicole Atkins

Released: September 16, 2014

Songwriter: Bruce Springsteen

Producer: Ryan McHugh Nicole Atkins

I get up in the evening
And I ain't got nothing to say
Come home in the morning
Go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired
Just tired and bored with myself
Hey man
I could use just a little help

You can't start a fire
Can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark

Message keeps getting clearer
Radio's on and I'm moving around the place
Take a look in the mirror
I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
I ain't getting nowhere
I'm just livin' in a dump like this
There's something happening somewhere
I just know that there is

You can't start a fire
You can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in
Even if we're just dancing in

You sit around getting older
There's a joke here, it's on me
Shake this world off my shoulders
Come on man, this laugh's on me
Stay on the streets of this town
They'll be carving you up alright
They say you gotta stay hungry
Man, I'm just about starving tonight
Dying for some action
I'm sick of sitting here trying to write this book
I need a love reaction
Come on give me just one look

You can't start a fire
Sittin' 'round cryin' about a broken heart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
You can't start a fire
Worryin' that your little world's falling apart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Even if we're just dancing in the dark

To borrow a phrase from heaven’s new poet laureate, Leonard Cohen, Nicole Atkins was “born with the gift of a golden voice.” But somewhere along the way she misplaced it. Goodnight Rhonda Lee is the story of Nicole finding her voice, and how, in doing so, she went a little crazy.

Great Art is born of struggle and Nicole was struggling. The problem was that she felt nothing. Her fans responded to her performances with the same fervor they always had, but Nicole felt nothing. Her new husband loved her and doted on her, but she felt nothing. She traced it back to her drinking and decided to try to learn to live without booze. But that first day of sobriety brought with it an unexpected additional test – Nicole’s dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. This Jersey girl, whose big voice was tethered to a big heart, and whose reaction to the mundane setbacks of everyday life had always been equally overblown, suddenly faced a real problem. “It toughened me up,” she says.

And the songs started to come. Little bursts of therapeutic creativity. Thorny feelings transubstantiated into melodies. Beginning with “Listen Up,” a wake-up call to a lucky girl who hadn’t realized how lucky she’d been, Nicole started to find her redemption in these songs. They rang true in a way no songs ever had before. They came from a deep, vulnerable place. If Nicole had been living an unexamined life, she wasn’t anymore.

more tracks from the album

Dead Man’s Town: Born in the U.S.A. Revisited

From the album

Dead Man’s Town: Born in the U.S.A. Revisited (2014)

Nicole Atkins popular songs

Dancing in the Dark

Dancing in the DarkNicole Atkins

Nicole Atkins

Dead Man’s Town: Born in the U.S.A. Revisited