‘Born to Be Wild’ is a song written by Mars Bonfire (stage name for Dennis Edmonton) and first performed by the band Steppenwolf. It is often invoked in both popular and counter culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude. It is most notably featured in the 1969 film Easy Rider. Sometimes, ‘Born to Be Wild’ is described as the first heavy metal song, and the second-verse lyric "heavy metal thunder" marks the first use of this term in rock music (although not as a description of a musical style but rather a motorcycle).
‘Born to Be Wild’ was the band's third single off their 1968 debut album Steppenwolf and became their most successful single, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts. It was kept from the No. 1 spot by "People Got to Be Free" by the Rascals. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine placed ‘Born to Be Wild’ at No. 129 on the ‘500 Greatest Songs of All Time’ list. Also in 2004, it finished at No. 29 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. In 2009, it was named the 53rd best hard rock song of all time by VH1 (It ranked 40th in the 100 Greatest Songs of Rock and Roll by VH1 nine years earlier.). In 2018, the song was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a new category for singles.
Although he initially offered the song to other bands, (The Human Expression, for one), ‘Born to Be Wild’ was first recorded by Steppenwolf in a sped-up and rearranged version that AllMusic's Hal Horowitz described as "a roaring anthem of turbo-charged riff rock" and "a timeless radio classic as well as a slice of '60s revolt that at once defines Steppenwolf's sound and provided them with their shot at AM immortality".
Songwriter – Mars Bonfire
Producer – Gabriel Mekler
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
Looking for adventure
In whatever comes our way
[Chorus]
Yeah, darlin', go and make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space
[Verse 2]
I like smoke and lightnin'
Heavy metal thunder
Racing with the wind
And the feeling that I'm under
[Chorus]
Yeah, darlin', go and make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space
[Bridge]
Like a true nature's child
We were born, born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna die
Born to be wild
Born to be wild
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 1]
Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
Looking for adventure
In whatever comes our way
[Chorus]
Yeah, darlin', go and make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space
[Outro]
Like a true nature's child
We were born, born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna die
Born to be wild
Born to be wild