How a Backstage Meeting With Bruce Springsteen Led to a Classic Dave Edmunds Track

It never hurts to have famous fans. Dave Edmunds had more than a few of them, as the British rocker benefited from ace songwriters who liked how he interpreted their material. Folks like Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, and Graham Parker benefited from Edmunds’ versions of their songs.

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But those guys were all fellow Brits. Bruce Springsteen, the quintessential American rock and roller, donated “From Things (Big Things One Day Come)”, and it became one of the most beloved songs in Edmunds’ repertoire.

The Boss Provides

As he did for most of his projects, Bruce Springsteen wrote and recorded way more songs than he needed for his 1980 album The River. That’s saying something, because he expanded that release to a double LP after initially preparing and then shelving a single-disc version.

Springsteen was touring behind that landmark album in the United Kingdom when Dave Edmunds decided to stop by and see the show. The two hadn’t previously met, and Edmunds had no idea if The Boss was even familiar with him and his work.

Nonetheless, Edmunds made his way backstage and found out that Springsteen was indeed an ardent admirer. Edmunds figured that he might as well try and parlay this mutual admiration society into something more. He asked Springsteen if he had any songs lying around that he might want to send Edmunds’ way.

Springsteen suggested an unused track from The River sessions that he likened to Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land”, a rollicking rocker that keeps adding new verses and doesn’t repeat itself. He told Edmunds to check back when he was in New York, and Springsteen would have the song waiting for him. Edmunds did just that, which is how he had the opportunity to record “From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)” on his 1982 album D.E. 7^th.

Exploring the Lyrics of “From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)”

“From Small Things (Big Things One Day Come)” tells the story of a girl who keeps believing that the grass is greener on the other side. As such, she leaves behind a trail of broken hearts and, eventually, dead bodies. The song is laden with tongue-in-cheek. But Edmunds wisely played it straight in his version, charging straight ahead without any judgment of the characters and their behavior.

At first, the protagonist just wants to be on her own. “She got a job behind the counter,” the narrator recounts. “In an all-night hamburger stand.” That humble beginning leads to romance. “He was tall and handsome,” Edmunds sings of the guy in her life. “First she took his order and then she took his heart.”

But not even a seemingly sedate domesticity can keep this girl from roaming. “Oh, but love is fleeting,” the narrator explains about her vague motivations. The next thing we know, she’s on the move again with a new beau, promising her mother once they reach their destination that “Life is just heaven in the sun.”

Not for long, however. Out of the blue, at least to the listeners, she murders this poor sap, and the motivation gets even pickier: “When they caught her all she said/Was she couldn’t stand the way he drove.” In the final scene, her first husband and their two kids pine for her return.

The girl’s insistence that “From small things, mama/Big things one day come” never wavers, even as her circumstances drastically change. In any case, the title rang true for Dave Edmunds, who walked away with a signature song out of an innocent backstage meeting.

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