The song came about when Columbia president Clive Davis, upon listening to an early version of Greetings from Asbury Park N.J., felt the album lacked a potential single. Springsteen wrote this and "Spirit in the Night" in response. According to Springsteen, he wrote the song by going through a rhyming dictionary in search of appropriate words. The first line of the song, "Madman drummers, bummers, and Indians in the summers with a teenage diplomat" is autobiographical—"Madman drummers" is a reference to drummer Vini Lopez, known as "Mad Man" ; "Indians in the summer" refers to the name of Springsteen's old Little League team; "teenage diplomat" refers to himself. The remainder of the song tells of many unrelated events, with the refrain of "Blinded by the light, cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night". "Blinded by the Light" was the first single from Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. Springsteen's version was commercially unsuccessful and did not appear on the music charts.
Cover versions and reissues
released a version of the song on their 1976 album The Roaring Silence. Their version includes the "Chopsticks" melody played on piano near the end of the bridge of the song. The track reached #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Canadian RPM charts. Manfred Mann's Earth Band's recording of "Blinded by the Light" is Springsteen's only #1 single as a songwriter on the Hot 100; his highest charting single as a solo performer was "Dancing in the Dark" in 1984, which reached #2 on the Hot 100, and his only #1 was as part of the USA for Africa ensemble that recorded "We Are the World". In 2002, Danish act Funkstar De Luxe released its disco version of this song. A "jazzified" version can be found on Springsteen's 2007 video and audio release , recorded with The Sessions Band. A cover of the song by The Eagles of Death Metal was featured in the 2018 film Super Troopers 2.
Lyrics
's recording of the song changes the lyrics. The most prominent change is in the chorus, where Springsteen's "cut loose like a deuce" is replaced with "revved up like a deuce". The lyric is a reference to a hot rod "deuce coupe". Springsteen was fond of classic hot rods in his youth, hence the line "cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night". As the line is frequently misheard as "wrapped up like a douche", Springsteen has joked about confusion over the lyrics, claiming that it was not until Manfred Mann rewrote the song to be about a feminine hygiene product that it became popular.
Musicians
Original version
Bruce Springsteen – vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards
