Philadelphia - Soundtrack

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Original

Collaboration

Compilation

Playlist

Commercially Released: January 4, 1994
Label: Epic
Produced by Bruce Springsteen and Chuck Plotkin
Mixed by Bob Clearmountain
Mastered at Masterdisk
Photography by Neal Preston

Overview

Philadelphia is a 1993 American legal drama film written by Ron Nyswaner, directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. It was one of the first mainstream Hollywood films to acknowledge HIV/AIDS, homosexuality, and homophobia. "Streets of Philadelphia" is a song written and performed by Bruce Springsteen. Released as a single in 1994, the song was a hit in many countries, particularly Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland and Norway, where it topped the singles charts. It was a critical triumph and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song and four Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Best Rock Song, Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo, and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television. In 2004 it finished at #68 on AFI's 100 Years…100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema.

Released

Philadelphia (Soundtrack)

#	Song Title	Running Time	Release
1.	STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA	4:12	OST: PHILADELPHIA

Additional Information

Artwork

^{© 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.}

Personnel

• Bruce Springsteen: Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Synthesizer, Drum Machine
• Tommy Sims: Backing Vocals

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^{Springsteen-related track only.}

Media

Related Releases

• All Versions
  • Philadelphia (Soundtrack)

• Other
  • Philadelphia (Movie) ⁽¹⁹⁹³⁾

• Single
  • Streets Of Philadelphia ^{(February 2, 1994)}

On The Tracks

STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V1a	4:13	uncirculating
STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V1b	4:11	BACK / ASOBS / OST: PHILADELHPIA
STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V1c	3:49	1994 single
STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V1d	3:17	GREATEST / ESSENTIAL / BESTOF
STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V1e	2:53	DDITV / 1994 b-side
STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V1f	4:13	promo-only cd
STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V1g	3:43	TOTP video mix
STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA - V2		uncirculating

Note: Written in mid-1993 and registered at the U.S. Copyright office on August 27, 1993. Released on December 30, 1993, as part of the Philadelphia soundtrack, then issued as a single in the U.S. on February 2, 1994. However, this is a song with a complex recording and release history. All recordings were co-produced by Springsteen and Chuck Plotkin.

The base track, V1a, was recorded during August 1993 at Bellevue Studios (the house next to the residence) at Thrill Hill Recording, 40 Bellevue, Rumson, New Jersey. Springsteen was on vocals, guitar, bass, synthesizer, and drum machine. V1b added background vocals and bass by Tommy Sims, and in December would become the album soundtrack version. V1c, the single mix, only adds Sims's vocals to V1a, and is trimmed to under four minutes. V1d is a significantly edited (one minute shorter) version of V1b, mixed for Greatest Hits, released on February 28, 1995. V1e is the version used for the commercially released video – it is the same base recording as V1b except that it features an alternate ("live") Springsteen vocal. V1f was released as a promotion-only single in the UK and Austria and this is allegedly yet another slightly different mix of V1b. V1g is the audio released as part of a black-and-white video shot in early 1994 at CBS TV Soundstage studios in New York and originally broadcast on the UK TV show Top Of The Pops. It is alleged this is yet another slight, but unique, mix variation.

V2 is a different recording of the song made in October 1993, apparently at A&M Studios in Los Angeles. It features Bruce on lead vocal, instrumentation provided by Springsteen and jazz virtuoso Ornette Coleman, bass and background vocals by Tommy Sims, and additional background vocals by Little Jimmy Scott. V2 was allegedly scheduled to be the officially released version up to early December 1993, when it was nixed at the last second, even after the song's video (which featured Little Jimmy extensively) was shot. The video had to be re-shot. A brief snippet of V2 (including the tell-tale vocals of Little Jimmy Scott) is actually heard about halfway through the movie (but it's V1b that is heard in the opening sequence of the movie).

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^{Studio Sessions: Greatest Hits}

Gallery/News

^{© 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.}

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Links:

• ^{Sorry, no Links available.}

Lyrics

• Streets Of Philadelphia

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