Badlands is a US national park in South Dakota famous for striking scenery and expansive prairie land, but the title of this song came from a 1973 movie called Badlands starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. Springsteen hadn’t seen the film when he wrote the song, but he knew about it because he saw the poster in a movie theater lobby. The film is based on Charles Starkweather, a 19-year-old from Nebraska who in 1958 went on a murderous rampage with with girlfriend. After seeing the film, Sprin