‘Born to Run’ is a song by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, and the title track of his third studio album Born to Run (1975). It was Springsteen's first worldwide single release, although it achieved little initial success outside of the United States. Within the U.S., however, it received extensive airplay on progressive or album-oriented rock radio stations. The single was also Springsteen’s first top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #23.
In late 1973, on the road in Tennessee, Springsteen awoke with the title ‘Born to Run’, which he wrote down. According to Springsteen, this was the first spark of the later song. Written in the first person, the song is a love letter to a girl named Wendy, for whom the hot rod-riding protagonist seems to possess the passion to love, just not the patience. However, Springsteen has noted that it has a much simpler core: getting out of Freehold. U.S. Route 9, a highway passing through Freehold, is mentioned from the lyric "sprung from cages out on Highway 9".
Springsteen wrote the lyrics in his Long Branch, New Jersey, home in early 1974. "One day I was playing my guitar on the edge of the bed, working on some song ideas, and the words 'born to run' came to me," he recalled. "At first I thought it was the name of a movie or something I'd seen on a car spinning around the circuit. I liked the phrase because it suggested a cinematic drama that I thought would work with the music that I'd been hearing in my head."
Many of Springsteen's songs mention girls by name; in this one the heroine is Wendy. He explained that these ladies are composites of different people he knew. In the line, "hemi-powered drones scream down the boulevard," a "hemi" is the 426 Hemi engine made famous by Chrysler muscle cars. "Drones" in this context are automatons, the young men driving their cars up and down the strip without a thought to the future.
‘Born to Run’ was met with critical acclaim and is considered Springsteen's signature song. It was ranked number 27 on Rolling Stone's 2021 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", the highest placement for a song by Springsteen. It was also included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. Upon release, music critic Robert Christgau took note of its wall of sound influence and called it "the fulfillment of everything 'Be My Baby' was about and lots more".
The song has been played at nearly every non-solo Springsteen concert since 1975 (although it was not included in the 2006 Sessions Band Tour) and is his most-performed song live. Most of the time the house lights are turned fully on and fans consistently sing along with Springsteen's signature wordless vocalizations throughout the song's performance.
Label – Columbia
Songwriter – Bruce Springsteen
Producers – Bruce Springsteen, Mike Appel
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]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 out on Highway 9
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected and steppin' out over the line
Oh, 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
[Verse 2]
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
Oh, 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 want to know if love is wild, babe
I want to know if love is real
Oh, can you show me?
[Saxophone Solo]
[Bridge]
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
Huh!
[Instrumental Break]
(One, two, three, four)
[Verse 3]
The highways 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
Oh, 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
[Outro]
Oh honey, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run
Come on Wendy, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run
Whoa-oh-whoa
Hm-hm-hm
Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
Hm-hm-hm
Whoa-oh-whoa
Oh-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh