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Revved up like a douche...
What song lyrics had you baffled, or singing something totally different until you read the lyrics? I was blinded like so many to Manfred Mann's Earth Band's version of Bruce Springsteen's tune, Blinded by the Light - thinking the lyric went as follows:
Blinded by the light, revved up like a douche, to a rumor in the night...
when it actually went:
...revved up like a deuce, another runner in the night...
Well, at least that is how they sang it. Springsteen's original lyrics were "cut loose like a deuce" - however, he is not complaining as his version on his debut album in 1973, did not chart, however, this garbled version some four years later went to # 1 on the Billboard Top 100 chart, and is the only penned Springsteen song ever to reach # 1 - oddly enough.
According to Wikipedia: "Springsteen wrote "Blinded by the Light" after most of the others on Greetings were finished and is also one of the few songs for which Springsteen wrote the words before arranging the music.The song itself contains many lyrical (and therefore obscure) references such as "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" - a dancer at one of the local strip joints in Asbury Park."
At any rate, when it came to singing Douche - I knew it was wrong, so wrong, but just went with it... until Google set me straight. (yes, I learned it late...)
So what lyrics did you sing, before you learned? More importantly, like my own interpretation of this song, are there any lyric version of a song that you preferred your own rendition of?
Comment
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Comment by vannatta on March 6, 2009 at 9:30am -
jb,
Couldn't find the page that you referenced, but the highest peaked "recorded" single for Springsteen was "Dancin' in the Dark" which only reached # 2. Keep in mind, that I'm talking about Billboard Top 100 - not the genre based sub charts. My research shows the following peak of the tunes that you mentioned on the Billboard Top 100 as:
My Hometown at #6
Brilliant Disguise at # 5
Tunnel of Love at # 9
Human Touch at # 16
He has had NINE number one albums, the latest being "Working on a Dream" ...
Also, the Boss lived in LA from 1989 to about 1996, then moved back to NJ ... so it wasn't like he didn't try the correct coast at one point ... he just prefers the badlands of Joisey... ;)
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Comment by thickwire on March 6, 2009 at 2:53am - dude's had EIGHT #1 albums to boot! (and he still lives in Jersey ???)
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Comment by thickwire on March 6, 2009 at 2:51am
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was surprised when you stated "...this garbled version some four years later went to # 1 on the Billboard Top 100 chart, and is the only penned Springsteen song ever to reach # 1 - oddly enough."
According to the Artist Chart History at billboard.com, Bruce has had five #1 singles; four of which he wrote, the other being 1985's rather trite cover of Jimmy Cliff's "Trapped" .
In order:
2. 1986 My Hometown
3. 1987 Brilliant Disguise
4. 1987 Tunnel Of Love
5. 1992 Human Touch
what i find really interesting is that it took Bruce almost tens years to score a #1 on his own and all five of these #1's are rather obscure in the mainstream vein of things. i'll say it again... no accounting for public taste.
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