Blinded by the Light
| "Blinded by the Light" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||
| Single by Bruce Springsteen | ||||||||||
| from the album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. | ||||||||||
| Released | February 1973 | |||||||||
| Recorded | August–September, 1972 914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, New York |
|||||||||
| Genre | Folk rock, Jersey Shore sound | |||||||||
| Length | 5:06 | |||||||||
| Label | Columbia | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Bruce Springsteen | |||||||||
| Producer | Mike Appel, Jim Cretecos | |||||||||
| Bruce Springsteen singles chronology | ||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| "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 | ||||||||||||||||
| Length |
7:08 (album version) 3:48 (single edit) |
||||||||||||||||
| Label | Bronze Records | ||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Bruce Springsteen | ||||||||||||||||
| Producer | Manfred Mann and Earth Band | ||||||||||||||||
| Manfred Mann's Earth Band singles chronology | |||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
"Blinded by the Light" is a song written and originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen, although it is mostly known by its 1976 #1 hit version recorded by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. It was released in the United Kingdom in August 1976, where it reached No. 6 in the BMRB[1] charts.
Contents |
[edit] History
"Blinded by the Light" was the first song on, and first single from, Bruce Springsteen's 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park N.J. The band's version was unsuccessful and did not appear on the music charts.
[edit] Lyrics
The Earth Band's recording of the song features several changed 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."[2][3][4]
This is commonly misheard as "wrapped up like a douche (the V sound in "revved" is almost unpronounced and the S sound in "deuce" is pronounced as if it were an "SH" sound)."[5][6] 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.[7]
[edit] Cover versions and reissues
Manfred Mann's Earth Band released a version of the song on their album The Roaring Silence. The song reached #1 on both Billboard's Hot 100 and on the Canadian RPM chart on 19 February 1977. The Manfred Mann's Earth Band 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 Live in Dublin album, recorded with the Sessions Band.
The song is featured in the films Blow and Running with Scissors.
[edit] References
- ^ British Market Research Bureau
- ^ Buzzelli, Mike (2010-04-26). "Revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night". Observer-Reporter. http://www.observer-reporter.com/or/buzzstory/04-26-2010-mike-buzzelli-lyrics. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
- ^ "VH1 Storytellers: Bruce Springsteen". http://www.vh1.com/partners/vh1_music_studio/supplies/specials/springsteen-lesson2.html. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
- ^ The word deuce, in both the Springsteen and Earth Band versions, refers to a 1932 model Ford.
- ^ Search results for misheard lyrics at kissthisguy.com
- ^ Q: "Blinded By the Light, Revved Up Like a..." What? - Blogcritics Music at blogcritics.org
- ^ "Bruce Springsteen". VH1 Storytellers. VH1. 2005-04-23. No. 62.
[edit] External links
- "Blinded by the Light" lyrics from Bruce Springsteen's official site
- Lyrics and detailed info for various versions at SpringsteenLyrics.com
| Preceded by "Torn Between Two Lovers" by Mary MacGregor |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single February 19, 1977 |
Succeeded by "New Kid in Town" by Eagles |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
