Born to Run (Lied)

2007-03-23T22:34:15Z

74.117.200.71: /* Cultural references */

{{unreferenced|date=September 2006}}
{{Infobox Single |
| Name = Born to Run
| Cover = borntorunsingle.jpg
| Artist = [[Bruce Springsteen]]
| from Album = [[Born to Run]]
| Released = [[August 25]], [[1975]]
| Format = [[7"]]
| Recorded = up to August 1974
| Genre = [[Rock and roll|Rock]]
| Length = 4 [[minute|min]] 30 [[second|sec]]
| Label = [[CBS Records]]
| Producer = [[Bruce Springsteen]] [[Mike Appel]]
| Chart position = <li>#23 (U.S.)</li>
| Reviews =
| Last single = ''[[Spirit in the Night]]'' ([[1973]])
| This single = ''Born to Run/[[Meeting Across the River]]'' ([[1975]])
| Next single = ''[[Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out]]/[[She's the One (song)|She's the One]]'' ([[1976]])
}}

'''"Born to Run"''' is the [[signature song]] of the [[United States|American]] [[singer songwriter]] [[Bruce Springsteen]], and the title song of his album ''[[Born to Run]]''.

== Songwriting ==
Written in a small house in [[Long Branch, New Jersey]] in early 1974, the song was Bruce Springsteen's last-ditch effort to make it big. The prior year, Springsteen had released two albums to critical acclaim but with little commercial success. The lyrics to the song are appropriately epic for his last-ditch, all-or-nothing shot at the stars, yet they remain rooted in the universal desperation of adolescence. ''We gotta get out while we're young, 'cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run.''

Written in the [[first person]], the song is a love letter to a girl named Wendy (''Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend I wanna guard your dreams and visions...; I wanna die with you Wendy on the streets tonight/in an everlasting kiss!''), whom the [[motorcycle|bike]]-riding [[protagonist]] certainly has the passion to love, but may not have the patience. However, Springsteen has noted that it has a much simpler core: getting out of [[Asbury Park]].

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.

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

== 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 amidst touring breaks during 1974, with final recording done on [[August 6]], well in advance of the rest of the album, and featured [[Ernest Carter|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.

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 format)|progressive rock radio]] outlets as well, including [[WNEW-FM]] in [[New York City|New York]], [[WMMS-FM]] 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.

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 Magazine|Time]]'' and ''[[Newsweek]]'' magazines.

==Honors and Accolades==
In 2004, "Born to Run" was ranked #6 in [[WXPN]]'s list of ''The 885 All-Time Greatest Songs''. [[Rolling Stone]] magazine's [[List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time]] placed it at #21, while the song came in at #920 in [[Q (magazine)|Q]]'s list of the "1001 Greatest Songs Ever" in [[2003]], in which they described the song as "best for [[working class]] heroes." It is one of [[The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll]]. In 2001 the [[RIAA]]'s [[Songs of the Century]] placed the song 135th (out of 365). It was ranked the #1 greatest song of all time on [[Vh1]]'s recent Top 1000 Songs Of All Time countdown.

On [[June 12]], [[1979]], "Born to Run" was named New Jersey's "Unofficial Youth Rock Anthem" by the [[New Jersey State Legislature]].

==Track listing==
#Born to Run - 4:31
#[[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.

== Chart performance ==
"Born to Run" was Springsteen's first world-wide [[single (music)|single]] release, although it achieved little initial success outside of the [[United States]].

Within the U.S. it received extensive airplay on progressive and [[album oriented rock]] radio stations, but as a pop single was only a minor hit, reaching #23 on the [[Billboard Hot 100]].

== Live performance history ==
The song has been played at nearly every non-solo Springsteen concert since 1975 (although it was not included in the 2006 [[Bruce Springsteen with The Seeger Sessions Band Tour|Seeger Sessions Band Tour]]), 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 five albums or DVDs:
*A 1975 [[Born to Run tours|Born to Run Tour]] rendition on ''[[Hammersmith Odeon London '75]]'', released in 2006;
*A 1985 [[Born in the U.S.A. Tour]] runthrough on ''[[Live/1975-85]]'', released in 1986;
*A starkly different 1988 solo acoustic guitar performance from the [[Tunnel of Love Express]] on ''[[Chimes of Freedom (EP)|Chimes of Freedom]]'', a 1988 [[extended play|EP]];
*A 2000 [[Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Reunion Tour|E-United Tour]] version on ''[[Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band: Live In New York City]]'', released in 2001 (the song closes disc one but does not appear on the track listing of the album cover);
*A 2002 [[The Rising Tour|Rising Tour]] take on the ''[[Live in Barcelona]]'' DVD, released in 2003.

== Music videos ==
"Born to Run" predates the [[music video]] era and no film or video clip was made of it at the time.

In 1987 a video was released to [[MTV]] and other channels, featuring a live performance of "Born to Run" from Springsteen and the E Street Band's 1984-1985 [[Born in the U.S.A. Tour]], with the video interspersed with clips from other songs' performances from that tour as well. It closed with a "Thank you" graphic to Springsteen's fans.

In 1988 an acoustic rendering of the song from the [[Tunnel of Love Express]] tour was released.

Both videos are included in the compilations:
*[[Video Anthology / 1978-88]]
*[[The Complete Video Anthology / 1978-2000]]

== Cultural references ==
In 1999, [[National Public Radio]] included the song in the "NPR 100," in which NPR's music editors sought to compile the one hundred most important American musical works of the 20th century.

The children's show ''[[Sesame Street]]'' featured a song about arithmetic called "Born To Add", sung by a Springsteen-like [[Muppet]]. Its background music, however, sounded more like Springsteen's "[[Thunder Road (song)|Thunder Road]]", though it did feature a "Born to Run"-ish saxophone solo.

In the [[Japan|Japanese]] novel ''[[Battle Royale]]'', the main character Shuya Nanahara is a Bruce Springsteen fanatic, despite the fictional Republic of East Asia's ban on [[rock and roll|rock music]]. The lyrics to "Born to Run" are quoted a few times in the book, as Shuya applies them to his own need to get out of Japan, down to singing them, replacing Wendy with his Noriko, in the very closing of the book. They also appear in the opening quotes of the book.

In an episode of ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'', [[Joel Robinson]] chides [[Tom Servo]] and [[Crow T. Robot]] for teaching [[Gypsy (MST3K)|Gypsy]] some racy lyrics ("Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims / and strap your hands across my engines") from "Born to Run".

In an episode of ''[[The Sopranos]]'', [[Tony Soprano]] and [[Silvio Dante]] are waiting for [[Christopher Moltisanti]] to arrive; when he shows up late he explains that "the highway was jammed with broken heroes on a last-chance power drive," quoting the lyrics to "Born to Run". Dante is of course played by E Street bandmate [[Steven Van Zandt]].

The British comedy program ''[[Spitting Image]]'' once featured a Bruce Springsteen puppet singing a parody entitled "Born To Teach Woodwork".

Melissa Etheridge sang "Born to Run" at the September 11th benefit Concert for New York City.

== External links ==
* [http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/BornToRun.html Lyrics & Audio clips from Brucespringsteen.net]

[[Category:1975 singles]]
[[Category:Bruce Springsteen songs]]
[[Category:Signature songs]]
[[Category:U.S. Route 9]]

Wikipedia - Benutzerbeiträge [de]

Born to Run (Lied)