Blinded By the Light (3:48)

“Blinded by the Light” is a song written and originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen. It is best known for a #1 hit version recorded by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.

History
“Blinded by the Light” was the first song on, and first single from, Bruce Springsteen’s 1973 debut album Greetings From Asbury Park N.J.. Springsteen’s version was initially unsuccessful, and failed to appear on the music charts.

Manfred Mann’s Earth Band released a version of the song on their album The Roaring Silence. The song reached #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 on 19 February 1977 and #1 on the Canadian RPM chart the same day. Manfred Mann’s Earth Band recording of “Blinded by the Light” is Springsteen’s only Number 1 single as a songwriter on the Hot 100.

The song is notable for lead vocalist Chris Thompson’s garbled enunciation, especially of the phrase “revved up like a deuce” which has led many fans to interpret it as “wrapped up like a douche”. The original Springsteen lyric is neither of the above, instead being “cut loose like a deuce”. Springsteen once attributed the popularity of the Manfred Mann version partially to Thompson’s enunciation.

A ska version can be found on Springsteen’s Live In Dublin album, recorded with the Sessions Band.

Lyrics
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: