Born to Run (Bruce Springsteen song)

"Born to Run (song)" redirects here. For other songs, see Born to Run (disambiguation).
"Born to Run"
Single by Bruce Springsteen
from the album Born to Run
B-side "Meeting Across the River"
Released August 25, 1975 (1975-08-25)
Format 7-inch single
Recorded
Genre
Length 4:30
Label Columbia
Writer(s) Bruce Springsteen
Producer(s)
Bruce Springsteen singles chronology
"Spirit in the Night"
(1973)		 "Born to Run"
(1975)		 "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out"
(1976)
Born to Run track listing

"Born to Run" is a song by American singer songwriter Bruce Springsteen, and the title song of his album Born to Run. Upon its release, music critic Robert Christgau took note of its wall of sound influence and called it "the fulfillment of everything 'Be My Baby' was about and lots more."[5]

The song ranked number 21 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.[6]

Songwriting

Written at 7½ West End Court in Long Branch, New Jersey in early 1974, the song was Bruce Springsteen's final attempt to become successful. The prior year, Springsteen had released two albums to critical acclaim but with little commercial movement.

Written in the first person, the song is a love letter to a girl named Wendy, for whom the hot-rod-riding protagonist seems to possess the passion to love, just not the patience. However, Springsteen has noted that it has a much simpler core: getting out of Freehold. U.S. Route 9 is mentioned from the lyric "sprung from cages out on Highway 9".

In his 1996 book Songs, Springsteen relates that while the beginning of the song was written on guitar around the opening riff, the song's writing was finished on piano, the instrument that most of the Born to Run album was composed on. The song was recorded in the key of E major.

In the period prior to the release of Born to Run Springsteen was becoming well-known (especially in his native northeast) for his epic live shows. "Born to Run" joined his concert repertoire well before the release of the album, being performed in concert by May 1974, if not earlier.

The first recording of the song was made by Allan Clarke of the British group The Hollies, although its release was delayed, only appearing after Springsteen's own now-famous version.

Recording

In recording the song Springsteen first earned his noted reputation for perfectionism, laying down as many as eleven guitar tracks to get the sound just right. The recording process and alternate ideas for the song's arrangement are described in the Wings For Wheels documentary DVD included in the 2005 reissue Born to Run 30th Anniversary Edition package.

The track was recorded at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York amidst touring breaks during 1974, with final recording done on August 6, well in advance of the rest of the album, and featured Ernest "Boom" Carter on the drums and David Sancious on keyboards; they would be replaced by Max Weinberg and Roy Bittan for the rest of the album and in the ongoing E Street Band (which was still uncredited on Springsteen's records at the time). The song was also recorded with only Springsteen and Mike Appel as producers; it would be later in the following year, when work on the album bogged down, that Jon Landau was brought in as an additional producer. Future record executive Jimmy Iovine engineered the majority of the sessions.

A pre-release version of the song, with a slightly different mix, was given by Appel to disc jockey Ed Sciaky of WMMR in Philadelphia in early November 1974, and within a couple of weeks was given to other progressive rock radio outlets as well, including WNEW-FM in New York, WMMS in Cleveland, WBCN in Boston, and WVBR in Ithaca, New York. It immediately became quite popular on these stations, and led to cuts from Springsteen's first two albums being frequently played as well as building anticipation for the album release.[7]

Upon release in August 1975, the song and the album became unparalleled successes for Springsteen, springing him into stardom, and resulting in simultaneous cover stories in Time and Newsweek magazines.

Music videos

No music video was made for the original release of "Born to Run", as they had not achieved significant popularity at the time.

Accolades

Live performances

House lights on for a typical performance of "Born to Run". Hartford Civic Center, October 2, 2007.
"Born to Run" in its home state of New Jersey. Izod Center, May 21, 2009.

The song has been played at nearly every non-solo Springsteen concert since 1975 (although it was not included in the 2006 Sessions Band Tour). Most of the time the house lights are turned fully on and fans consistently sing along with Springsteen's signature wordless vocalizations throughout the song's performance.

The song has also been released in live versions on six albums or DVDs:

"Born to Run" was also performed as the second number of four during Springsteen and the E Street Band's halftime performance at Super Bowl XLIII.

On Jon Stewart's last episode as host of The Daily Show on August 6, 2015, Springsteen performed "Land of Hope and Dreams" and "Born to Run".

Covers

Live covers

Track listing

  1. "Born to Run" - 4:31
  2. "Meeting Across the River" - 3:18

The B-side was simply another cut from the album; Springsteen would not begin releasing unused tracks as B-sides until 1980.

Personnel

In popular culture

Chart performance

"Born to Run" was Springsteen's first worldwide single release, although it achieved little initial success outside of the United States.

Within the U.S. it received extensive airplay on progressive or album-oriented rock radio stations and the single was a top 40 hit, reaching number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100.[13]

Weekly singles charts

Chart (1975) Peak
position
Australia[14] 38
Canadian RPM Top Singles[15] 53
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [13] 23
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[16] 17

Year-end charts

Chart (1975) Position
Canada [17] 188

References

  1. ↑ Robert Wiersema (2011). Walk Like a Man: Coming of Age with the Music of Bruce Springsteen. Greystone Books Ltd. p. 85. ISBN 978-1-55365-845-0.
  2. ↑ Susie Derkins (2002). Bruce Springsteen. The Rosen Publishing Group. p. 9. ISBN 978-0-8239-3522-2.
  3. ↑ Basham, Peter (2005). The Pocket Essential: Bruce Springsteen. Oldcastle Books. p. 12. ISBN 978-1-9030-4797-2.
  4. ↑ John M. Borack (2007). Shake Some Action - The Ultimate Guide To Power Pop. Not Lame Recording Company. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-9797714-0-8.
  5. ↑ Christgau, Robert (September 22, 1975). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-03-17. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
  7. ↑ Zeitz, Joshua (25 August 2015). "How Bruce Springsteen's 'Born to Run' Captured the Decline of the American Dream - The Atlantic". The Atlantic. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  8. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 19, 2010. Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  9. ↑ "The 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century". NPR. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  10. ↑ "Superchunk Share "Born to Run" Cover Featuring Trail of Dead, Crooked Fingers". Pitchfork. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  11. ↑ Niven, John (2011). The second Coming.
  12. ↑ Hill, David (9 July 2015). "American Pharoah's owner wants Bruce Springsteen to play on Haskell day". Fox Sports. Fox Sports. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  13. 1 2 "Bruce Springsteen - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  14. ↑ "Top 25 Singles of 1970". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  15. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 24, No. 13, December 20 1975". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  16. ↑ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles". 50.6.195.142. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  17. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 24, No. 14, December 27 1975". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 30 March 2016.

External links

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