Blinded By The Light - Soundtrack

Home » Statistical Information » Discography » Discography - Retail » Retail - Audio » Blinded By The Light - Soundtrack

Commercially Released: July 9, 2019
Label: Columbia
Produced by A.R. Rahman, Alan Tarney, Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Plotkin, Jim Cretecos, Jon Landau,
 Julian Mendelsohn, Mike Appel, Ron Aniello, Stephen Hague and Steven Van Zandt 
Mastered by Sean Brennan

Fold

Table of Contents

Overview

Released

Additional Information

Overview

Blinded By The Light: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack brings together 12 essential Bruce Springsteen performances ranging from greatest hits and fan favorites ("Born To Run", "Dancing In The Dark", "Hungry Heart", "Because The Night") to previously unreleased tracks, including the long-sought-after studio recording of "I'll Stand By You." Also, for the first time on album, Blinded By The Light: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack presents two live rarities: the debut live performance of "The River" (from No Nukes '79 - Madison Square Garden, NYC - September 21, 1979) and an unforgettable acoustic solo performance of "The Promised Land" (Concert for Valor - The National Mall, Washington DC, November 11, 2014). In addition to these live performances, the soundtrack includes period tracks and dialog from the film and premieres "For You My Love", a new song written for the film by soundtrack composer A.R. Rahman ("Slumdog Millionaire"). Rahman has won six National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, fifteen Filmfare Awards and seventeen Filmfare Awards South.

Inspired by a true story (Sarfraz Manzoor's Greetings from Bury Park: Race, Religion and Rock N' Roll) and the words and music of Bruce Springsteen, New Line Cinema's "Blinded by the Light" is the new coming-of-age film directed by Gurinder Chadha ("Bend It Like Beckham"). The film follows Javed (Viveik Kalra), a British teen of Pakistani descent, growing up in Luton, England in 1987. Javed's turbulent life amidst the racial and economic turmoil of the times is transformed when he is introduced to the music of Bruce Springsteen. "As a lifelong Bruce fan, I am delighted how this soundtrack takes you through the experience of watching my movie with Springsteen music complemented by the other tracks, including very personal tracks—from my dad's favorite song to a British Bhangra anthem", said writer-director-producer Chadha. "Growing up, Sarfraz and I could never have imagined a universe where all these songs would be on one soundtrack reflecting our lives". Chadha directed "Blinded by the Light" from a screenplay by Manzoor, Chadha and Paul Mayeda Berges. Chadha, Jane Barclay and Jamal Daniel produced the film, with Tory Metzger, Renee Witt, Peter Touche, Stephen Spence, Hannah Leader, Tracy Nurse, and Berges serving as executive producers. "Blinded by the Light" is a New Line Cinema presentation, in association with Levantine Films and Ingenious Media.

^{Source: BruceSpringsteen.net}

Released

Blinded By The Light (Soundtrack)

#	Song Title	Running Time	Release
5.	DANCING IN THE DARK	3:57	BITUSA / OST: BLINDED
8.	THE RIVER (Live)	5:09	RIVER / OST: BLINDED
10.	BADLANDS	4:01	DARKNESS / OST: BLINDED
11.	COVER ME	3:22	BITUSA / OST: BLINDED
12.	THUNDER ROAD (Live)	5:31	BORN TO RUN / LIVE: 197585 / OST: BLINDED
15.	PROVE IT ALL NIGHT	3:57	DARKNESS / OST: BLINDED
16.	HUNGRY HEART	3:13	RIVER / OST: BLINDED
18.	BECAUSE THE NIGHT	3:22	PROMISE / OST: BLINDED
20.	THE PROMISED LAND (Live, Acoustic) ¹	4:40	OST: BLINDED
21.	BLINDED BY THE LIGHT	5:02	GREETINGS / OST: BLINDED
22.	BORN TO RUN	4:28	BORN TO RUN / OST: BLINDED
23.	I'LL STAND BY YOU ¹	4:35	OST: BLINDED

^{Total Running Time: 1:15:36}

^{1: Previously unreleased.}

Additional Information

^{© All credits to the original photographer. We do not monetize a photo in any way, but if you want your photo to be removed, let us know, and we will remove it.}

DANCING IN THE DARK - V1a	4:31	BUERM / 1984AC
DANCING IN THE DARK - V1b	3:57	BITUSA / GREATEST / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST: 2009 / BESTOF
DANCING IN THE DARK - V2a blaster mix	6:09	1984 EP
DANCING IN THE DARK - V2b radio mix	4:50	1984 EP
DANCING IN THE DARK - V2c dub mix	5:30	1984 EP

Note: The last song on Born In The U.S.A. to be recorded. Written after Jon Landau convinced Bruce that the album needed a single. According to Dave Marsh in Glory Days, Bruce was not impressed with Landau's approach. "Look," he snarled, "I've written seventy songs. You want another one, you write it." Despite this reaction, Bruce sat in his hotel room and wrote the song in a single night, essentially writing about his frustrations, sick of "trying to write this book." Six takes were cut on February 14, 1984 at The Hit Factory, utilizing a new Yamaha synthesizer, but the track was not completed until March 8, after 58 mixes. Just the one outtake of "Dancing In The Dark" circulates, V1a, that contains a longer sax solo and a hard-ending (no fade-out) at the end that was cut short for the official album version. Curiously, the final synthesizer note is held for a few seconds at the conclusion of the song. This take is sourced from a March 1984 rough cut of the album. The 7" and 12" singles were released on May 9, 1984, and the 12" finished as the biggest seller in the U.S.A. that year.

V2a thru V2c are extended, radio friendly dance/disco remixes cut at the Power Station in April or early May 1984 by Arthur Baker, at the request of Columbia Records. The recording engineer for the remixes was Chris Lord-Alge. Providing the backing female vocals are Cindy Mizelle, Jocelyn Brown, and Baker's then-wife Tina B. Mizelle would later join the Sessions Band in 2006, and then become an E Street regular as a member of the E Street Choir between 2009 and 2014. These remixes were released on June 29, 1984.

OH ANGELYNE - V1	1:35	LM-6 / DROC1 / RRR
OH ANGELYNE - V2	0:47	LM-6
OH ANGELYNE - V3	2:52	LM-6
OH ANGELYNE - V4	2:13	LM-6 / MT2
THE RIVER - V5 take 5	4:48	RIVER: SINGLE / TTTBR / TTTBJ / PYP / LEK / ATMF
THE RIVER - V6	5:01	RIVER / GREATEST / ESSENTIAL / TTTB: RIVER / GREATEST: 2009 / CHAPTER / BESTOF
THE RIVER - V7	0:36	TTTB: DOCUMENTARY

Note: Springsteen kicked around the verses of "Oh Angelyne" for six months until he received inspiration from Hank Williams' "Long Gone Lonesome Blues" that includes the lyric 'I jumped in the river, but the doggone river was dry', and added a chorus in August 1979. The original inspiration had been the economic situation his sister Ginny and her husband found themselves in during the late 1970s. Thanks to 'Lost Masters', we have four takes of a solo demo recorded by Bruce at home in February–May, 1979.

"The River" was first recorded at the Power Station on August 26, 1979, with the completed take 5 (V5) selected for The Ties That Bind and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. Bruce changed his mind in October, and the single album fell through. In September he performed "The River" live twice at Madison Square Garden, New York at the No Nukes MUSE benefits. The version finally released on The River double album had a number of embellishments to the single album mix. For instance, the ethereal vocalisations by Bruce and Steve over the closing coda were added, possibly recorded on January 21, 1980. Mixing took place on April 12 and 24, and the result was sequenced as the final track on the first LP of The River. Studio logs give us those three dates in 1980, but don't specify what was done. In an interview, engineer Neil Dorfsman says he recalls cutting several versions of the song, trying out different tempos and a more embellished rock 'n' roll arrangement. None of these alternative arrangements circulate, and it is not known whether they exist in the vaults. V7 is a brief snippet of an acoustic demo heard in Thom Zimny's documentary about the making of The River, included in the The Ties That Bind (The River Collection) box set.

BADLANDS - V1	4:07	LM-2 / DDO / DDOC / DO-3 / AM / UP
BADLANDS - V2	3:47	LM-3 / DDO / DDOC / DO-2 / UP
BADLANDS - V3	3:40	LM-3 / UP / AM / LMEC1
BADLANDS - V4a	3:57	ODM / HOD / AM
BADLANDS - V4b	3:59	uncirculating
BADLANDS - V4c take 23	3:59	DARKNESS / GREATEST / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST: 2009 / PROMISE: DELUXE / CHAPTER / BESTOF

Note: Unfortunately, very few outtakes circulate of "Badlands", although given Springsteen's recording methods at the time far more likely exists in the vault. The title came from Terrence Malick's 1973 movie Badlands (though Bruce had not seen the movie). In late June, the music had been composed, and was first played by the E Street Band on June 27, 1977 at Atlantic Studios. The song's opening riff, Springsteen revealed years later, is a major-key twist on the minor-key intro to the Animals' 1965 hit "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood". V1 is an instrumental backing track; Max Weinberg said his opening drum part was suggested by Steve Van Zandt, and inspired by Motown. Bruce had a routine with his engineers to create 'Ruffs' tapes for him, so he could take instrumental or early recordings home and write lyrics. V2 had to be recorded on June 27, 30, or on July 11 or 13 at Atlantic Studios. Springsteen was working at Atlantic Studios on July 13, 1977, when the twenty-five-hour-long New York City blackout began; soon after, the opening lyric "lights out tonight" came into being. New takes, with developing lyrics, were recorded on August 24 and 30, 1977, but contrary to Lost Masters liner notes and many other sources, no outtakes circulate from these sessions.

It wasn't until November 1977, that Badlands was re-written with new lines, including "I wanna go out tonight, I wanna find out what I got" borrowed from "Iceman", about which Bruce later recalled, "That whole record was a record where I felt like I was going to have to test myself, and that was what I wanted to know, so that line ended up in a few different songs" (Los Angeles Times interview, 1998). Next, from a song by Elvis Presley from the 1962 movie Kid Galahad, King Of The Whole Wide World: "A poor man wants to be a rich man, a rich man wants to be a king, but the man who can sing when he hasn't got a thing, he's the king of the whole wide world." Bruce translated this to these Verse 2 lines: "Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, and a king ain't satisfied till he rules everything." Verse 3 was strengthened by "for the ones who once had a notion, it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive" from "Breakout".

V3 was recorded, perhaps on December 12, 1977 at the Record Plant, with many new pieces in place. Bruce is still yelling at "the man on the TV," but "Badlands" has started to take shape. The vocals for V4, the album version, were dubbed in during a three-day mixing marathon on February 22, 24 and 25, 1978. V4b has less double-tracked vocals than V4c, a last moment dubbing of Clarence Clemons's sax solo on April 11, which was pressed to acetate on April 12, 1978. Springsteen's initial excuse for almost leaving it off was that he believed the instrument evoked the city, leaving it out of place on an album set in something more like "the heartland"; he later admitted that "that would have been a major error."

COVER ME - V1a	3:15	THLBB / RTT
COVER ME - V1b	3:36	1984AC / BUERM
COVER ME - V1c	3:28	BITUSA
COVER ME - V2		uncirculating
COVER ME (Undercover Mix) - V3a	6:11	1984 EP
COVER ME (Radio) - V3b	3:46	1984 EP
COVER ME (Dub I) - V3c	4:11	1984 EP
COVER ME (Dub II) - V3d	4:14	1984 EP

Note: "Cover Me" was recorded at The Hit Factory on January 25, 1982. Earlier that month, David Geffen had approached Jon Landau to ask if Springsteen would write a song for Donna Summer. In response, Bruce wrote "Cover Me", but after Landau heard the January 25 tape, he told Bruce to come up with another song, because "we're keeping this one". In response, Bruce wrote "Protection". The January 25 session was recorded by Neil Dorfsman, who was also working on the Gary U.S. Bonds On the Line sessions. A copyright was filed on February 8, 1982.

The two circulating outtakes appear to be the same vocal. V1a is an alternative mix that lacks Springsteen's lead guitar overdubs, but has the count-in and full ending chopped off the released track. Note that the take found on the 'This Hard Land' vinyl bootleg runs very fast. V1b is believed to date from a March 1984 rough mix of the album, and includes Springsteen's lead guitar overdubs, the full ending and no fade-out. V1c, the final album track, cuts the ending short with a fade-out, and features background vocals by Richie "La Bamba" Rosenberg. On May 12, 1982, Springsteen cut nine additional takes (V2) at the Power Station, but those recordings remain in the vault. It is possible that these takes relate to the guitar overdubs.

V3a thru V3d are dance/disco remixes cut at The Hit Factory in July 1984 by Arthur Baker. The recording engineer was Toby Scott, and they were released in early September 1984. Baker was requested to remix "Cover Me" following the success of his "Dancing In The Dark" remixes. A far more radical remix than "Dancing In The Dark" was, Baker's Undercover Mix added a new bassline from Moja Nya bassist Brian Rock, replaced much of the guitar with organ and keyboards by Gary Henry, and added percussion by session legend Bashiri Johnson. The backing vocals are courtesy of Jocelyn Brown, which were previously unused tracks recorded before Baker started work. According to Baker, Springsteen took influence from his mix for the intro and bassline in live performances.

CHRISSIE'S SONG - V1		uncirculating
ANGELINA - V2		uncirculating
THUNDER ROAD - V3a	4:39	BIS / WAR / ET / BWNH / BTRCS
THUNDER ROAD - V3b	5:12	BTRS / BTRO
THUNDER ROAD - V4	4:35	BIS / WAR / ET / BWNH / BTRS / BTRCS
THUNDER ROAD - V5	5:03	ESR / BTRS
THUNDER ROAD - V6	5:22	WAR / BWNH / BTRS / BTRCS / UBTROC
THUNDER ROAD - V7	4:45	BTR / GREATEST / ESSENTIAL / BTR: 30 / GREATEST: 2009 / BESTOF

Note: According to Backstreets: Springsteen, The Man And His Music by Charles R. Cross, a 1972 song called "Angelina" contains the first two lines of "Thunder Road". This may have been the basis of a solo recording from October 1974 at 914 Sound Studios of "Chrissie's Song" (or this was a new composition), which includes the line "Leave what you’ve lost, leave what’s grown cold, Thunder Road." Some time between November 1974 and January 1975, Bruce took "Chrissie", lyrics from "Walking In The Street", and combined them into "Angelina" V2, possibly also known as "Wings For Wheels", the bootleg title of contemporary performances. Sometime after March 9 (the last time "Wings" appeared on a set list), Bruce took the music he had written for "Walking In The Street", and patched it on to the end of "Angelina"/"Wings For Wheels"; now his new lyric "this is a town for losers, I'm pulling out of here to win" was followed by the new instrumentral outro. The lines "the night's bustin' open, these two lanes will take us anywhere" and a poster for a 1958 Robert Mitchum movie in the lobby of a movie theater, provided the final ingredients for "Thunder Road".

April 13, 1975 was the day Jon Landau officially joined the album #3 production team. Louis Lahav, chief engineer, and his wife Suki, the violin player, quit and returned to their native Israel in late March. Jimmy Iovine reported to work at the Record Plant on April 18, after Landau was instructed to find better accommodations. "Thunder Road" and "Jungleland" were the first two songs recorded that day, and three versions of "Thunder Road", recorded over April 18–19 and 23, 1975, would later leak out on bootlegs. V3a is a full-band version, the girl is now Chrissie, and ends with the build up, instrumental outro, two refrains led by Clarence, to a full ending with no fadeout. V3b has two extra refrains for an extra long ending. The lyrics are getting there, but the guitar is not yet talking, and "Leave what you've lost, leave what's grown cold, Thunder Road" from "Chrissie's Song" is still there. V4 is a haunting acoustic solo version, the girl is now Christina, but otherwise no lyrical changes. V5, released on E Street Radio, is from April 23, starts with Roy Bittan's piano, base rhythm and Bruce's vocal and guitar (no organ or sax). "Leave what you've lost, leave what's grown cold" now replaced with "Sit tight, take hold." The final refrain is led by piano, with Bruce's overdubbed guitar. V6, recorded, or at least overdubbed, on July 15 or 16, and is almost ready to open Born To Run. This take opens with saxophone and Roy's piano, the latter which is featured in the first two minutes, Bruce's now awesome vocal, introduces us to Mary, and dominated by guitar. The long outro mixes guitar, sax and piano just like the album, and has seven refrains, though one variation only has five. V7 now has piano and harmonica opening without sax, glock, the talking guitar and Mary, and after twelve hours mixing and dubbing guitars, was completed on July 16, 1975, with Mike Appel on background vocals.

PROVE IT ALL NIGHT - V1	3:28	LM-3 / UP / AM / LMEC2
PROVE IT ALL NIGHT - V2a	4:00	ODM / HOD / UP / AM
PROVE IT ALL NIGHT - V2b	3:54	ODM / HOD / UP / AM
PROVE IT ALL NIGHT - V2c	3:54	DARKNESS / ESSENTIAL / PROMISE: DELUXE / BESTOF / 1978 single

Note: Springsteen has said that "Prove It All Night" was adapted from "It's A Shame", a.k.a. "Jon's Jam", which was written, recorded, and set aside in June, 1977. He later said (live as an introduction to the song) that he got the idea from a cabbie in New York City while he was making the album. The cabbie was "raving about how all day long you gotta prove it to your boss driving around in a cab and all night you gotta go home and prove it to your wife, on the weekends you gotta prove it to your kids." The earliest circulating take from 'Lost Masters III' has an overdubbed sax solo and double tracked vocals, but the lyrics are a fusion of both "Prove It All Night" and "Something In The Night". Studio logs show takes were recorded on September 12, and over three straight days from September 14–16. It's likely that V1 is from one of those dates, but could potentially be earlier.

"Prove It All Night" never failed to be included on tentative album sequences, from October 1977 through May 1978. The song was completed with V2 (take 49), mixed in spring 1978 by Toby Scott, Chuck Plotkin's chief engineer. V2a is an alternate mix that runs to a hard stop ending, with Max's energetic performance and Danny's organ dominating. V2b features the vocal track above the organ and drums and runs shorter. while the final mix, V2c, was also released as the first single ahead of the album, on May 23, 1978 in the United States.

HUNGRY HEART - V1a	2:53	DROC2 / PYP
HUNGRY HEART - V1b	3:30	LM-6
HUNGRY HEART - V1c	3:32	LM-6
HUNGRY HEART - V2a	3:28	LM-6 / RRR
HUNGRY HEART - V2b	3:47	DROC2 / ATMF
HUNGRY HEART - V2c	3:31	private cdr
HUNGRY HEART - V2d take 2	3:21	RIVER: SINGLE / TTTBR / TTTBJ
HUNGRY HEART - V3	3:15	RIVER / GREATEST / ESSENTIAL / GREATEST: 2009 / BESTOF / 1980 single

Note: "Hungry Heart"" was supposedly penned after Joey Ramone asked Bruce to write a song for the Ramones, after he attended a show at The Fast Lane, Asbury Park, in March 1979. Springsteen has confirmed that it was written with the Ramones in mind, and he was considering giving the song away, but after he played it for Jon Landau, Jon convinced Bruce to keep it for himself. Engineer Neil Dorfsman recalls "Hungry Heart" was recorded "live" in the studio, on June 14 and again on June 21, 1979. Flo & Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of the Turtles) contributed backing vocals during one of these sessions. V2c has heavy echo added to Springsteen's vocal. Mixing by Bob Clearmountain for The Ties That Bind single album took place in September, and there is a session logged on September 5, but it is not clear what occurred on that date. Additional sessions took place on March 24 and April 10, 1980, but it is confirmed that Clearmountain's mix from 1979 was not tampered with, making it the first of many Springsteen releases he would go on to mix. However, "Hungry Heart" was pitch adjusted, raising the pitch of Springsteen's vocal to achieve a more radio friendly sound. That is why The River track is slightly shorter than The River: Single Album version.

BECAUSE THE NIGHT (Belongs To Lovers) - V1	3:17	DO-3 / UP / AM
BECAUSE THE NIGHT - V2 - fade in	2:32	LM-3 / UP / AM
BECAUSE THE NIGHT - V3	3:19	DO-2 / DDO / DDOC / ESR / O711S
BECAUSE THE NIGHT - V4	3:22	PROMISE / 2010 single

Note: "Because The Night" first appeared on several Darkness-era sessions song lists, once as "The Night Belongs To Lovers". One or more of these song lists may pre-date the first recording session on June 1. The song was first recorded at Atlantic Studios, New York on the first night of sessions on June 1, 1977 as "Because The Night (Belongs To Lovers)" with some work-in-progress and bluffed lyrics. V1 above may be this June 1 recording, but that cannot be confirmed. The next known recording was on July 1, 1977 also at Atlantic Studios, and is less embryonic but still with some unfinished lyrics. This may be V2 above. The information we have indicates that Springsteen cut his last take on September 27, 1977 at the Record Plant in New York, possibly V3 above. While closer to the final revision the lyrics are still incomplete, with several bluffed lines in the verses.

In or around October 1977, Jimmy Iovine was engineering Darkness and producing Patti Smith's Easter at the Record Plant at the same time. This is confirmed by Assistant Engineer Thom Panunzio. According to Iovine, "Bruce was understanding and flexible [about working on two projects simultaneously], because he realized this was my first real break as a producer. Anyway, one night whilst we were lounging around the Hotel Navarro in New York, I told Bruce I desperately wanted a hit with Patti, that she deserved one. He agreed. As he had no immediate plans to put 'Because The Night' on an album, I said why not give it to Patti. Bruce replied, If she can do it, she can have it." At the time, Bruce did not feel there was space for "a[nother] love song" on Darkness. Iovine brought Smith the September 27 demo of the song, and Patti added her own lyrics, retelling it from a female perspective. She recorded it at the Record Plant for her album Easter, and scored her first and biggest hit single. On December 30, 1977 at CBGB Second Avenue Theatre in New York City, Patti Smith premiered her new song, with Bruce Springsteen on guitar and background vocals.

When Springsteen premiered "Because The Night" on May 30, 1978 in Boston on the sixth night of the Darkness Tour, he used a curious mix of his own and Smith's lyrics, most notably his use of "Desire and hunger is the fire I breathe" in the first verse and "Love is a ring, the telephone" in the second. The lyrics developed through the tour as he added his own parts while still keeping some of Smith's - such as "The vicious circle turns and burns without" in the final verse. "Because The Night" was a regular in live performances for many years, but Springsteen's choice of lyrics remained remarkably fluid, with little consistency until the latter stages of the River Tour. Bruce's use of her lyrics meant that Patti Smith was credited as a co-writer when a December 29, 1980 recording was included on the Live 1975/85 box-set in 1986.

Bruce did not officially release a studio take until 2010 on The Promise. This recording, V4, sees Springsteen singing Smith's lyrics over the June 1977 backing tracks. The new vocal take was recorded June 25, 2010 in the Record Plant Studio truck parked on his Colts Neck, NJ property. He sung Smith's lyrics live in their entirety for the first time in a promotional appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in November 2010.

THE PROMISED LAND - V1		uncirculating
THE PROMISED LAND - V2		uncirculating
THE PROMISED LAND - V3a	4:14	ODM / HOD / UP
THE PROMISED LAND - V3b	4:25	DARKNESS / ESSENTIAL / PROMISE: DELUXE

Note: One of the last songs written and recorded for the album, "The Promised Land" had its genesis in a short trip taken by Bruce, Steve Van Zandt, and photographer Eric Meola on August 17, 1977, two days after breaking from recording for a week. Their plan was to fly into Salt Lake City, Utah, rent a vintage American car, and drive to Reno, Nevada, by way of the Utah and Nevada wilderness. The fruits of their journey were "Rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert," "the dogs on Main Street howl because they understand" (based on real dogs howling on a Main Street), and Eric's photographs, which appeared throughout The Promise: The Darkness On The Edge Of Town Story box set. Upon returning, Bruce composed "The Promised Land", and introduced it to the band on September 30, 1977, with three takes attempted (including V1). Recording resumed on October 27 at the Record Plant with twenty takes (including V2, take 19, marked "long ending"). V3 (take 5) was completed on December 1 or 27, 1977, and pressed to metal acetate on April 12, 1978. V3a was the final version without the guitar solo. On or about May 10, Bruce decided a guitar intro was needed before Clarence Clemons's powerful sax solo. After Steve Van Zandt recorded it in New York, Side 2 was mastered for a second time, at The Mastering Lab, Los Angeles, which briefly delayed the album release to June 2.

BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - V1a	5:03	GREETINGS / ESSENTIAL: 2003 / GREATEST: 2009
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - V1b	3:58	1973 Single

Note: According to Springsteen in Songs, both "Blinded By The Light" and "Spirit In The Night" were written to order after Clive Davis told him in mid-August 1972, there was nothing on Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. which could get radio play. Bruce's response was to go home with a rhyming dictionary, which is what he used to write "Madman’s Bummers", which he changed to "Blinded By the Light", and without delay, "Spirit In The Night" and "Blinded By The Light" were both recorded on September 11, 1972.

After the Greetings sessions were completed, and the master submitted on August 10, most of the not-yet-called The E Street Band had dispersed to other obligations; David Sancious and Danny Federici were in Virginia, and Miami Steve was playing with the Dovells. Bruce found his drummer, Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez, special guest star Clarence Clemons, who had not played in the June sessions, and Harold Wheeler to play piano; he played the rest of the instruments. It is not known how many takes were needed to finish "Blinded By The Light", but it was completed in one day. Before it was released as a single on February 23, 1973, coupled with "The Angel", the engineers at Columbia edited out a verse, reducing the time below four minutes. It was given an extremely limited commercial release in the United States. The lyrics on the back of the 7" picture sleeve are also missing a verse. A stereo fold down mono version is available as the b-side of the white label promo 45.

BORN TO RUN - V1a	4:24	ESR / BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V1b	4:28	BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V2	4:27	BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3a	4:40	BIS / BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3b	4:38	WAR / BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3c	4:34	ETRJ / BWNH / BTRS / BTRCS / BIS / ROOI / WAR
BORN TO RUN - V3d	4:30	BIS / ROOI / ETRJ / ETRV / BTRS / BTRCS
BORN TO RUN - V3e	4:23	BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3f	4:21	BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3g	4:30	BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3h	4:23	BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3i	4:21	BIS / BTRCS
BORN TO RUN - V3j	4:21	BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V3k	3:20	Ktel-CBS
BORN TO RUN - V4a	4:28	BTR / GREATEST / ESSENTIAL / BTR: 30 / GREATEST: 2009 / CHAPTER / BESTOF
BORN TO RUN - V4b	4:28	ETRJ / ETRV / BTRS
BORN TO RUN - V4c	5:27	RTT
BORN TO RUN - V5		uncirculating

Note: In his 2012 biography, Bruce, Peter Ames Carlin wrote that "While on the road in the Mid-South late in 1973, Springsteen awoke suddenly one morning, grabbed his notebook, and inked in the title "Born To Run". A few weeks later, Bruce, the band, and Appel got back to work at the 914 Sound Studios on January 8, 1974, spending a couple of days fiddling with rudimentary versions of both "Born To Run" and "Jungleland"." According to Springsteen, the entire writing and recording process for the song took six months, while he was living at a rented cottage at 7½ West End Court in West Long Branch, New Jersey. Though recordings from early 1974 have never surfaced, early lyric sheets of "Glory Road" contain many lines that would be used in "Born To Run", including the title.

V1a is the original backing track recorded on May 21, 1974, after rehearsal in prior sessions. V1b is from June 26, 1974, dubbing Bruce's vocal to the V1a track. Work continued, adding lyrics, overdubs, and layer upon layer of sound, at 914 Sound Studios, both in June and then after starting a week's residency at the studio on August 1, 1974. Finally, on or about August 6, 1974, "Born To Run" was completed. 72 tracks were down-mixed to 16 by engineer Louis Lahav. "We only had 16 tracks to work with and they were packed, because he had had so much going on in the songs," Lahav remembers. "I had to ping-pong between tracks all the time to get everything in. Clarence Clemons's sax solo on "Born to Run" was recorded in different parts and I had to edit them to make it a whole solo. It was a really long voyage on that song."

The core backing track is V2. The variants of V3 are numerous test mixes and arrangements, with female choir vocals, double-tracked lead vocals, strings, and hard stop organ endings. Some items listed here may have been created by AI software that separates elements like vocals from the music. V3a has a double tracked vocal, strings and hard organ stop; V3b has double tracked vocals, swirling strings, female chorus, and hard organ stop; V3c has a female chorus and delayed organ end. V3d has a female chorus that does not start until third verse, with funky dead stop. V3e is an alternative mix with only basic instrumental backing; V3f has only guitars in the instrumental backing; V3g does not have a drum track. V3h is Bruce's vocal without any backing instruments; V3i features string and enhanced high end; V3j has less overdubbing; V3k does not include the middle verse and the sax solo and was released by Ktel-CBS in Australia-only in early 1976 on a multi-artist LP called Supersounds.

In a 2006 interview, Louis Lahav described the mixing process: "Springsteen kept changing the lyrics and the song got finished only when he was pleased with the text. But we weren't working only on the vocals that entire time. We were tweaking, overdubbing and pre-mixing until the last moment. In addition to the rhythm section there were strings, glockenspiel, piano, electric guitars, brasses, about four or five acoustic guitars, there are probably thousands of parts and instruments in it. For example, the sax solo was edited from about seven different solo tracks…it took me hours punching in and out what you can do these days in seconds." The final mix chosen for release is V4a. In late October 1974, an advanced tape release of the official version (V4b) was sent to selected radio stations by Mike Appel and Springsteen. V4c is a live recording from WMMR Studios in Philadelphia on November 3, 1974, with Ed Sciaky and Bruce playing V4b on the air. The tape was broadcast by several USA radio stations from November 1974 to July 1975. There is little difference between V4a and V4b, except V4b is pre-brickwalled for radio broadcast. V5 is a studio log entry for March 17, 1975, an attempted mix session at Columbia Studios, 49 East 52nd Street, New York. Jon Landau is quoted in Down Thunder Road: "Sometime later Bruce…decided to go in and attempt to remix [the single] "Born To Run". Bruce called me and told me. He asked if I would be able to drop by. They were doing this work at CBS Studios in Manhattan." Bruce similarly wrote in his autobiography, "We took it to a New York studio one evening and in a half hour realized the impossibility of our task. We would never corral that sound again."

I'LL STAND BY YOU ALWAYS - V1	5:32	SA
SONG FOR HARRY POTTER - V2a	5:32	cdr ep
I'LL STAND BY YOU ALWAYS - V2b	5:29	O&S
I'LL STAND BY YOU - V2c	4:35	BLINDED: OST

Note: A ballad written by Springsteen sometime between 1998 and 2000, inspired by reading the Harry Potter books to his youngest son Sam. This is not a children's song, however. Sometime in early 2001, Bruce made the song available to director Chris Columbus, who at the time was shooting the first of the Potter movies. However, the Springsteen song was ultimately rejected due to Harry Potter novelist/creator JK Rowling's contractual stipulation that no commercial songs of any type be used in the Potter film series. Warner Brothers Music President Gary Lemel, who was involved in the Potter music, was asked for comment by USA Today, but said he preferred not to comment publicly – but in doing so seemingly verified the basic truth in the story. In September or October 2001, Springsteen donated the song to fellow Sony artist (and Latin/salsa star) Marc Anthony, who recorded a cover version. In late 2001 both Sony and Anthony issued press releases specifically promoting the Springsteen composition and mentioning it would be one of the tracks on Anthony's forthcoming album Mended (and likely the lead single off the album). Strangely, when the Mended album was finally released in April 2002, the song was not on the album, nor was it issued as a single. A later special edition of Mended with bonus tracks also didn't include the song. There has been no explanation as to why the Springsteen composition was not issued.

V1 is from early 2001, a rough demo version with very few lyrics written. However, Bruce finished them quickly, and recorded the completed studio version V2a on January 28, 2001 in the studio next to his Rumson home. The studio version was exclusively given out on an in-house promo CD-R to some very few top executives at Columbia Records. The CD-R was burned on October 31, 2001, right around the time when the track was being offered up to the Harry Potter producers, about a week before the Live In New York City DVD was released. The CD-R contains three tracks: "Song For Harry Potter", "My Hometown (Live)", and "This Hard Land (Live)". V2b is the probably the same studio recording, copyrighted on June 13, 2001 and apparently donated to the Harry Potter movie. This version uses a similar base track, but the lyrics are completed. It leaked on February 10, 2017.

In late 2018, Ron Aniello added overdubs and effects to the base recording. It was mixed by Bob Clearmountain on February 19, 2019 at Stone Hill Studio, Colts Neck, NJ, specifically for the Blinded by The Light soundtrack album, and released August 9, 2019. V2c is actually the same as V2b, but fades out 50 seconds earlier, features more backing vocals, and the mix is slightly different. It was produced by Ron Aniello and mastered by Bob Ludwig. Aniello is also credited as engineer and mixing engineer, Toby Scott is credited as engineer (2001), and Rob Lebret is credited as engineer and mixing engineer.

^{Studio Sessions: None}

Media	Song Title	Recording Date	Location
8.	The River	September 21, 1979	Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
12.	Thunder Road	October 18, 1975	Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, California
20.	The Promised Land	November 11, 2014	National Mall, Washington, District Of Columbia

09 2019 b compilation info july live r_ostbbtl r_other retail soundtrack studio variousartists

Brucebase Wiki

Site Navigation

Overview

Released

Additional Information