However, its lyrics were not completed as of June 1, 1977, the first day of the Darkness on the Edge of Town recording sessions. Bruce and the E Street Band worked on the song for five days in June 1977, then set it aside, incomplete, for the rest of the year. On March 8, 1978, over two months after the sessions were completed, Springsteen called in his band, and a new version of "Darkness" was recorded from scratch, completed on March 10, and mixed on March 30, just in time to make it on the album as the closing track. The album was released on June 2, 1978. It is thought possible that Springsteen was working on "Darkness" all along, during the nine months that passed, and came up with the words at the last moment, which he did twice on Born to Run, with "Backstreets" and "She's the One".
