Born to Run: The Greatest Rock Recording of All Time

Rolling Stone publishes lists of the top 100 'This' and 'That' every month or so. These lists do what they were intended to do: piss people off. Marketers know a pissed-off person will tell 7 people of their ire, while a satisfied person will tell 3 (or no one at all).

When the magazine did their list of the 100 greatest rock songs of all time, it is little wonder they picked Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone as #1; after all, they named their magazine after it.
While I agree L.A.R.S. is one of the greatest songs of all time, it is closer to a jam session than a masterpiece.

Born to Run just came on the radio this morning and it brought tears to my eyes for perhaps the 139th time. I've been listening to this song for about than 35 years - surely I should be immune to it by now.

But I'm not, and here's why: The song embodies everything

youth
rebellion
dreams
hope and
triumph

is about.

BTW, these things are exactly what Rock and Roll is about.

From the explosive first chord to the last, the music makes it clear; there will be no compromise, this is do or die trying. If there were no words to the song, the music would make you believe you were at the start of a race that IS your life.

Then you've got Springsteen's vocal: OMG! This kid is singing like his life depends on it. There is a desperation, not just to survive, but to come out on top. He is passionately singing HIS story and (many of) our stories at once.

The making of this tune and the album were well documented and is a must for any fan. Born To Run was the first song for the album and it alone took 6 months of extraordinarily long days and nights to finish. Then the trick was to make the rest of the album to that standard. ha!
Amazingly enough, they did. That was one hell of a learning curve.

Some connected with the project say Bruce Springsteen went temporarily insane while doing this work. That would put him in the company of other artists, some who, unfortunately did not find their way back. Thank Everything, The Boss did.

Born To Run

In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American dream

At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines

Sprung from cages out on highway 9,Chrome wheeled,

fuel injected and steppin' out over the line

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

Wendy let me in I wanna be your friend

I want to 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

Will you walk with me out on the wire

'Cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider

But I gotta find out how it feels

I want to know if love is wild girl

I want to know if love is real

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 streets tonight

In an everlasting kiss

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'll live with the sadness

I'll love you with all the madness in my soul

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

One of the better live versions of the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rGFfO5fUvE