Blinded by the Light

"Blinded by the Light"
Single by Bruce Springsteen
from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
B-side "The Angel"
Released February 1973
Recorded August–September 1972
914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, New York
Genre Rock
Length 5:06
Label Columbia
Writer(s) Bruce Springsteen
Producer(s) Mike Appel, Jim Cretecos
Bruce Springsteen singles chronology
"Blinded by the Light"
(1973)		 "Spirit in the Night"
(1973)
Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. track listing

Side one

  1. "Blinded by the Light"
  2. "Growin' Up"
  3. "Mary Queen of Arkansas"
  4. "Does This Bus Stop at 82nd Street?"
  5. "Lost in the Flood"

Side two

  1. "The Angel"
  2. "For You"
  3. "Spirit in the Night"
  4. "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City"
"Blinded by the Light"
Single by Manfred Mann's Earth Band
from the album The Roaring Silence
B-side "Starbird No. 2"
Released August 6, 1976
Format 7"
Recorded 1976, Workhouse Studios, London
Genre Progressive rock, hard rock
Length 7:08 (album version)
3:48 (single edit)
Label Bronze Records
Writer(s) Bruce Springsteen
Producer(s) Manfred Mann and Earth Band
Certification Gold (RIAA)
Manfred Mann's Earth Band singles chronology
"Spirits in the Night"
(1975)		 "Blinded by the Light"
(1976)		 "Questions"
(1976)
The Roaring Silence track listing
"Blinded by the Light"
(1)		 "Singing the Dolphin Through"
(2)
Audio sample
file info · help

"Blinded by the Light" is a song written and recorded by Bruce Springsteen which first appeared on his 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.. A cover by British rock band Manfred Mann's Earth Band reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in February 1977 and was also a top ten hit in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada.

History

The song came about when Columbia president Clive Davis, upon listening to an early version of Greetings from Asbury Park N.J., felt the album lacked a potential single. Springsteen wrote this and "Spirit in the Night" in response.

According to Springsteen, the song came about from going through a rhyming dictionary in search of appropriate words. The first line of the song, "Madman drummers, bummers, and Indians in the summers with a teenage diplomat" is autobiographical—"Madman drummers" is a reference to drummer Vini Lopez, known as "Mad Man" (later changed to "Mad Dog"); "Indians in the summer" refers to the name of Springsteen's old Little League team; "teenage diplomat" refers to himself. The remainder of the song tells of many unrelated events, with the refrain of "Blinded by the light, cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night".

"Blinded by the Light" was the first song on, and first single from Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. Springsteen's version was commercially unsuccessful and did not appear on the music charts.

Lyrics

Manfred Mann's Earth Band's recording of the song changes the lyrics. The most prominent change is in the chorus, where Springsteen's "cut loose like a deuce" is replaced with "revved up like a deuce."[1][2][3] This is commonly misheard as "wrapped up like a douche" (the V sound in "revved" is almost unpronounced, and the S sound in "deuce" comes across as "SH" due to a significant lisp).[4][5] Springsteen himself has joked about the controversy, claiming that it was not until Manfred Mann rewrote the song to be about a feminine hygiene product that it became popular.[6]

Cover versions and reissues

Manfred Mann's Earth Band released a version of the song on their 1976 album The Roaring Silence. Their version includes the "Chopsticks" melody played on piano near the end of the bridge of the song. The track reached #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Canadian RPM charts. Manfred Mann's Earth Band's recording of "Blinded by the Light" is Springsteen's only Number 1 single as a songwriter on the Hot 100.

In 2002, Danish act Funkstar Deluxe released its disco version of this song. A "jazzified" version can be found on Springsteen's 2007 video and audio release Live in Dublin, recorded with The Sessions Band.

The song is used in the films Blow and Running with Scissors.

Personnel

Original version

with

Manfred Mann's Earth Band cover

with

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1976-77) Peak
position
Australia[7] 11
Canada RPM 1
Netherlands 19
New Zealand 8
UK Singles Chart[8] 6
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[9] 1
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[10] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (1976) Rank
Australia[11] 88
Chart (1977) Rank
Canada[12] 28
US Billboard Hot 100[13] 36
US Cash Box[14] 52

References

  1. ↑ Buzzelli, Mike (April 26, 2010). "Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night". Observer-Reporter. Archived from the original on June 2, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  2. ↑ "VH1 Storytellers: Bruce Springsteen". Archived from the original on December 7, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  3. ↑ The word deuce, in both the Springsteen and Earth Band versions, refers to a 1932 model Ford.
  4. ↑ "Manfred Mann's Earth Band : Blinded by the Light : Real Lyric: Blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night : Misheard: Blinded by the light, wrapped up like a douche". Kissthisguy.com\accessdate=2016-05-08.
  5. ↑ "Q: "Blinded By the Light, Revved Up Like a…" What?". Blogcritics.org. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  6. ↑ "Bruce Springsteen". VH1 Storytellers. Episode 62. April 23, 2005. VH1.
  7. ↑ "Australian Chart Book". Austchartbook.com.au. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  8. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 346/6. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  9. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
  10. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 25, 2015. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
  11. ↑ Steffen Hung. "Forum - Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts - 1980s (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  12. ↑ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  13. ↑
  14. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 2016-07-26.

External links

Preceded by
"Torn Between Two Lovers" by Mary MacGregor		 Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
February 19, 1977 (one week) 		Succeeded by
"New Kid in Town" by Eagles
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