Track 5 of Born To Run, 1975.
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- Born To Run (1975)
- Bruce Springsteen: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar
- Ernest "Boom" Carter: drums
- Clarence Clemons: saxophone
- Danny Federici: organ, glockenspiel
- David Sancious: piano, Fender Rhodes, synthesizer[?]
- Garry Tallent: bass
Performed live 7 times as a snippet.
- 2024-10-23 SiriusXM Studio, New York City, NY
- 2022-10-31 SiriusXM Studio, New York City, NY
- 2021-10-17 Asbury Lanes, Asbury Park, NJ
- 2021-09-28 Stone Hill Farm, Colts Neck, NJ
- 2005-11-13 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ
- 2005-11-08 Wachovia Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
- 2005-10-30 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA
Performed multiple times during the following shows:
Released on Born To Run (1975), Born To Run (Single, 1975), Greatest Hits (1995), The Essential (2003), Greatest Hits (2009), Collection: 1973–2012 (2013), Chapter And Verse (2016), Blinded By The Light (Soundtrack, 2019), and Best Of (2024).
Live versions are released on Live/1975–85 (1986)/Live Collection II (EP, 1986)/Born To Run (Single, 1987) (recorded August 19, 1985), Chimes Of Freedom (EP, 1988) (recorded April 27, 1988), Live In New York City (2001) (recorded July 1, 2000), Waitin' On A Sunny Day (Single, 2003)/PBS Exclusive (EP, 2005) (recorded October 16, 2002), Hammersmith Odeon, London '75 (2006) (recorded November 18, 1975), The 25th Anniversary Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Concerts (Compilation, 2010) (recorded October 29, 2009), Springsteen On Broadway (2018) (recorded July 17/18, 2018), The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts (2021) (recorded September 21, 1979), and Encore At The Garden (2025) (recorded October 1, 2022).
Live versions are available on the following 309 official live downloads:
- 2009-10-14 Wachovia Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA
- 2009-05-04 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
- 2008-08-23 Scottrade Center, St. Louis, MO
- 2008-08-21 Sommet Center, Nashville, TN
- 2008-04-28 Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC
- 2008-04-22 St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL
- 2008-03-20 Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN
- 2007-11-19 TD Banknorth Garden, Boston, MA
- 2003-06-16 Olympiastadion, Helsinki, Finland
- 2000-07-01 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2000-06-27 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 2000-05-22 Arrowhead Pond Of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA
- 1999-10-23 Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
- 1999-09-30 United Center, Chicago, IL
- 1999-09-25 First Union Center, Philadelphia, PA
- 1999-07-18 Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
- 1999-07-15 Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
- 1993-06-24 Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
- 1993-05-14 Waldbühne, Berlin, Germany
- 1992-12-13 Boston Garden, Boston, MA
- 1992-07-25 Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
- 1988-07-03 Stockholms Stadion, Stockholm, Sweden
- 1988-05-23 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1988-05-16 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1988-04-28 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA
- 1988-04-23 Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA
- 1988-03-28 Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, MI
- 1985-09-27 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
- 1985-08-22 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
- 1984-08-20 Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
- 1984-08-19 Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
- 1984-08-06 Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
- 1984-08-05 Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
- 1981-07-09 Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ
- 1981-06-05 Wembley Arena, London, England
- 1981-06-04 Wembley Arena, London, England
- 1980-12-31 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
- 1980-12-29 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
- 1980-12-28 Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
- 1979-09-22 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1979-09-21 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
- 1978-12-16 Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA
- 1978-12-15 Winterland Ballroom, San Francisco, CA
- 1978-12-08 Summit (The), Houston, TX
- 1978-10-01 Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA
- 1978-09-30 Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA
- 1978-09-21 Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ
- 1978-09-20 Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ
- 1978-09-19 Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ
- 1978-08-09 Agora (The), Cleveland, OH
- 1978-07-07 Roxy Theatre (The), West Hollywood, CA
- 1978-07-01 Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA
- 1977-02-08 Auditorium Theatre, Rochester, NY
- 1977-02-07 Palace Theatre, Albany, NY
- 1975-12-31 Tower Theater, Upper Darby, Philadelphia, PA
- 1975-12-21 Seneca Field House, Seneca College, Toronto, ON
- 1975-12-12 Post Dome, C.W. Post College, Greenvale, NY
- 1975-11-24 Hammersmith Odeon, London, England
- 1975-10-18 Roxy Theatre (The), West Hollywood, CA (Early)
One of these recordings is also available on the playlists The Live Series Collection: Songs Of The Road (2018), The Live Series: Songs Of Summer (2020), The Live Series Collection: Stripped Down (2020), The Live Series: Songs Of New Jersey (2023), and The Reunion Tour '99 (2024).
| 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". Carlin asserts that shortly thereafter, beginning January 8, 1974, Springsteen and the band spent "a couple of days fiddling with rudimentary versions of both "Born To Run" and "Jungleland"" at 914 Studios. However, it is almost certain that that Carlin is misinterpreting the handwritten notes of Israeli engineer Luis Lahav, who wrote the date August 1 in the European format. At any rate, 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. 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. These are all from the original multi-tracks, and released as downloadable content for the video game Guitar Hero World Tour on January 27, 2009, and subsequently bootlegged. 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."
Studio Sessions: Born To Run
Born To Run |
In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines
Sprung from cages on Highway 9, chrome-wheeled, fuel-injected, and stepping out over the line
Whoah baby, this town rips the bones from your back, it's a death trap
It's a suicide rap, we gotta get out while we're young
'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run
Yes girl, we were
Wendy, let me in, I wanna be your friend, I wanna guard your dreams and visions
Just wrap your legs 'round these velvet rims and strap your hands across my engines
Together we could break this trap, we'll run till we drop, baby we'll never go back
Whoah, will you walk with me out on the wire
'Cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider but I gotta know how it feels
I wanna know if love is wild, baby, I wanna know if love is real
Oh can you show me
Huh! Now!
Beyond the Palace hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard
The girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors and the boys try to look so hard
The amusement park rises bold and stark, kids are huddled on the beach in a mist
I wanna die with you, Wendy, on the street tonight in an everlasting kiss
Huh!
One, two, three, four!
The highway's jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive
Everybody's out on the run tonight but there's no place left to hide
Together, Wendy, we can live with the sadness, I'll love you with all the madness in my soul
Whoah, someday girl, I don't know when
We're gonna get to that place where we really want to go and we'll walk in the sun
But till then tramps like us, baby we were born to run
Ah honey, tramps like us, baby we were born to run
Come on Wendy, tramps like us, baby we were born to run
Whoah whoah whoah-whoah
Hmm hmm hmm-hmm
Oh-oh oh whoah whoah whoah-whoah
Whoah oh oh oh whoah
Hmm hmm hmm-hmm
Whoah whoah whoah-whoah
Whoah whoah whoah-whoah
Whoah oh oh oh whoah
| Visit SpringsteenLyrics.com for other versions of this song. |
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