Someone please explain "Blinded By The Light" to me.....
- Thread starter Papa Deuce
- Start date
Bruce explained it on one of those VH1 Behind the Music things -- it apparently had to do with his early career playing music...
It's been a while, so I don't exactly remember his words...
It's been a while, so I don't exactly remember his words...
But didn't Manfred Mann do it first?
EDIT.... I see they did not.... but it was a hit for Mnafred Mann before I ever heard Springsteen's version.
Dats why hes DA BOSS!!
Seriously I always figured it was about the stage lights. I know sitting in a DJ booth with a strobe going for 5-6 hours drove me batty.
From SongFacts:
Springsteen talked about this song in detail on an episode of VH1 Storytellers. A lot of the references are personal, to include people he knew or had met on the Boardwalks, or had grown up around, or were just direct personal references to himself:
Madman drummers bummers - Vinnie "Mad dog" Lopez, the first drummer in the E Street Band.
Indians in the summer - Bruce's little league baseball team as a kid.
In the dumps with the mumps - being sick with the mumps.
Boulder on my shoulder - a "chip" on his shoulder.
Some all hot, half-shot, heading for a hot spot, snapping fingers clapping his hands - Being a "know it all kid growing up, who doesn't really know anything."
"Silicone Sister" - Bruce mentions that this is arguably the first mention of breast implants in popular music - a dancer at one of the local strip joints in Asbury Park.
He wrote this song in his bedroom, primarily using a rhyming dictionary. Or as Bruce put it, "the rhyming dictionary was on fire." (thanks, John - Columbus, OH)
Springsteen talked about this song in detail on an episode of VH1 Storytellers. A lot of the references are personal, to include people he knew or had met on the Boardwalks, or had grown up around, or were just direct personal references to himself:
Madman drummers bummers - Vinnie "Mad dog" Lopez, the first drummer in the E Street Band.
Indians in the summer - Bruce's little league baseball team as a kid.
In the dumps with the mumps - being sick with the mumps.
Boulder on my shoulder - a "chip" on his shoulder.
Some all hot, half-shot, heading for a hot spot, snapping fingers clapping his hands - Being a "know it all kid growing up, who doesn't really know anything."
"Silicone Sister" - Bruce mentions that this is arguably the first mention of breast implants in popular music - a dancer at one of the local strip joints in Asbury Park.
He wrote this song in his bedroom, primarily using a rhyming dictionary. Or as Bruce put it, "the rhyming dictionary was on fire." (thanks, John - Columbus, OH)
And when Manfred Mann's version was out (1977) I heard, "Wrapped up like a douche, you know the roamer in the night..."
DjDennis
RIP- My Dad (2011), Sister (2013) and Mum (2017)
Misunderstood lyrics. Bruce touched upon that, with the Mann version.
It was deuce in both versions.
"Blinded by the light, revved up like a deuce another runner in the night"
It wasn't a douche bag -- it was a car. Bruce was always a car freak. Mann changed the words a bit, but not the concept, and didn't voice it the same way.
DjDennis
RIP- My Dad (2011), Sister (2013) and Mum (2017)
well here is the Lyrics ------------
Manfred Mann's Earth Band
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Madman drummers bummers,
Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat
In the dumps with the mumps as
the adolescent pumps his way
into his hat
With a boulder on my shoulder, feelin' kinda older,
I tripped the merry-go-round
With this very unpleasin', sneezin' and wheezin,
the calliope crashed to the ground
The calliope crashed to the ground
But she was...
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Some silicone sister with a
manager mister told me I got
what it takes
She said "I'll turn you on
sonny to something strong,
play the song with the funky break"
And go-cart Mozart was checkin'
out the weather chart to see if it
was safe outside
And little Early-Pearly came by in
his curly-wurly and asked me if I
needed a ride
Asked me if I needed a ride
But she was...
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light
She got down but she never got tired
She's gonna make it through the night
She's gonna make it through the night
But mama, that's where the fun is
But mama, that's where the fun is
Mama always told me not to look
into the eye's of the sun
But mama, that's where the fun is
Some brimstone baritone
anticyclone rolling stone preacher
from the east
Says, "Dethrone the dictaphone,
hit it in it's funny bone,
that's where they expect it least"
And some new-mown chaperone was
standin' in the corner,
watching the young girls dance
And some fresh-sown moonstone was
messin' with his frozen zone,
reminding him of romance
The calliope crashed to the ground
But she was...
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light
Madman drummers bummers, Indians
in the summer with a teenage
diplomat
In the dumps with the mumps as
the adolescent pumps his way
into his hat
With a boulder on my shoulder, feelin' kinda older,
I tripped the merry-go-round
With this very unpleasin', sneezin' and wheezin,
the calliope crashed to the ground
Now Scott with a slingshot
finially found a tender spot and
throws his lover in the sand
And some bloodshot forget-me-not
said daddy's within earshot save
the buckshot, turn up the band
Some silicone sister with a
manager mister told me I got
what it takes
She said "I'll turn you on sonny
to something strong"
Have a nice Day all
