Promises in the Dark

Never again, isn’t that what you said?
You’ve been through this before
An’ you swore this time you’d think with your head
No one, would ever have you again
And if takin’ was gonna get done
You’d decide where and when

Just when you think you got it down
Your heart securely tied and bound
They whisper, Promises In The Dark

Armed and ready, you fought love battles in the night
But too many opponents made you weary of the fight
Blinded by passion, you foolishly let someone in
All the warnings went off in your head
Still you had to give in

Just when you think you got it down
Resistance nowhere to be found
They whisper, Promises In The Dark

But promises, you know what they’re for
It sounds so convincing, but you heard it before
Cause talk is cheap and you gotta be sure
And so you put up your guard
And you try to be hard
But your heart says try again

You desperately search for a way to conquer the fear
No line of attack has been planned to fight back the tears
Where brave and restless dreams are both won and lost
On the edge is where it seems it’s well worth the cost
Just when you think you got it down
Your heart in pieces on the ground
They whisper, Promises In The — Dark

  • Debuted 10/3/81 (Mary’s birthday)
    Reached #38 on the Pop charts
    Spent 11 weeks on the charts
    Debuted 7/25/81, hit #16 on the Album Rock Tracks.
  • Pat: Sometimes I really hate singing in the first person. First person is so personal sometimes, especially when it’s about something. I mostly like observation lyrics. If it’s directly from something that happened I can’t stand to sing it in first person. I’d rather sing as “we” or “they” or something else.
    Neil: She did a great job on that song. That’s really a tremendous job. She writes great melodies.
    Pat: I started that one on a plane. It’s real hard when you are married to a person. You’re always ashamed. You don’t want to show your lyrics. You can slip the lyric under the door and say, ‘You can read this but wait ’til I go away.’ When I write melodies that is when I’m the most embarrassed, because Neil writes great melodies. So I came to him with this song halfway done, I was dying of embarrassment.
    Neil: She had the whole melody of the song except for the bridge.
    Pat: Then I made him write the third verse. We switched. Okay, you clean it up. You write the last verse.Neil: The melody shifted a little in the bridge to where she could get a little more testy coming out it.

    Pat: He’s always trying to make me sing stuff that I normally go for.


From the album(s): 35th Anniversary Tour - Live (2015), All Fired Up - The Very Best of Pat Benatar, Best Shots, Choice Cuts - The Complete Video Collection, Live From Earth, Pat Benatar - 36 All-Time Greatest Hits, Pat Benatar - Heartbreaker, 16 Classic Performances, Pat Benatar - The Very Best of, Pat Benatar Synchronistic Wanderings Recorded Anthology 1979 to 1999, Precious Time, Summer Vacation 2001 - Live, and We Belong to Pat Benatar - Live at the Electric Ladyland
Author(s): Pat Benatar & Neil Geraldo
Time: 4:48
Copyright: @Copyright 1981 by Big Tooth Music, Neil T. Geraldo
Song lyrics checked for accuracy against album sleeve.

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