Born to Be Wild (5:42)

“Born to Be Wild” is a rock song written by Mars Bonfire (actual name Dennis Eugene McCrohan, born 21 April 1943 in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada; name changed to Dennis Edmonton in the early 1960s); it was made famous by the Canadian rock band, Steppenwolf. Often used in popular culture and in movie soundtracks, most notably in the soundtrack for the movie “Easy Rider” (1969) … , the song is sometimes described as the first heavy metal song ever written and is also said to have inspired the name of the emerging heavy metal genre; although these claims are disputed, the song’s second verse (which refers to “heavy metal thunder,” though it is a reference to the weight of the motorcycle) contains the first recorded reference to “heavy metal.”