<P> In the documentary The Promise: The Making of Darkness On the Edge of Town, Springsteen said the song is about "how we honor the community and the place we came from ." In the same documentary Springsteen noted that elements of the song reflected his own situation when he wrote it . He was unable to record a new album due to a lawsuit, and felt weak, unable to do what he wanted and that he was letting down the other members of the band . The song reflects the sense of despair but also of resilience and determination and desire to transcend his limitations that he was feeling at the time . Ultimately, Springsteen suggested that the message of the song is the need to lose one's illusions of a life without limitations while holding onto a sense of the possibilities in life . </P> <P> The lyrics of "The Promised Land" include a number of links to other Springsteen songs, particularly those on Darkness on the Edge of Town . The idea of the singer believing in something better despite a lack of evidence also occurs in "Badlands". Also like "Badlands", the protagonist of "The Promised Land" is prepared to take control . Like a number of songs from Darkness on the Edge of Town, including "Badlands", "Prove It All Night", "Racing in the Street", "Factory" and "Adam Raised a Cain", "The Promised Land" includes references to working and a working life . Like "Adam Raised a Cain" and non-Darkness songs such as "Pink Cadillac", "The Promised Land" incorporates biblical imagery . Sawyers notes that the possibility of violence implicit in the lyrics foreshadow the explicit violence in the lyrics of some of the songs on Springsteen's 1982 album Nebraska . </P> <P> The music for "The Promised Land" is in the key of G major . It is based on five chords . Springsteen plays a harmonica solo at the beginning and end of the song . The song also incorporates guitar and saxophone solos . </P> <P> Robert Christgau referred to "The Promised Land" as a model "of how an unsophisticated genre can illuminate a mature, full - bodied philosophical insight ." Sputnik Music critic John Cruz called "The Promised Land" one of the "more hopeful" songs on Darkness on the Edge of Town, stating that "the band goes along for the ride with just the right amount of flair and steadiness to deliver the songwriter's vision with crystal clear clarity ." </P>

I believe in the promised land bruce springsteen