First you hear the supersonic drumming of Max Weinberg as if you are listening to the firing of a machine gun in a gangster movie. This then gives way to a short, blazing Clarence Clemons sax solo. The rest of the song is propelled by the base guitar of Garry Tallent. This is what you experience when you hear the third track off of the iconic Born To Run album. It hadn’t been as well known as many of the other tracks from the album, but Night has become a bit of an E Street Band stage favorite.
Like many of Springsteen’s other songs, Night deals with such familiar themes as hard-working blue collar wage earners, men and their fast cars, and searching for the love of a woman. The central character in the song lives for nights and weekends when he can get away from his blue collar job and feel the joy and freedom that comes from flying down the highway.
Bruce and the band played this song early in the setlist of my very first Springsteen concert on July 21, 2003, at Giants Stadium. I always viewed this track as the perfect high-energy song to help get my tired ass out of bed in the morning. About this song, my buddy Ken has told me, “Can you believe that this is the worst song on the album?” What he essentially means is that this is one terrific track, but it is a bit underrated and overlooked because of all the other classic songs that appear with it on Born To Run. I agree wholeheartedly.
“You get up every morning at the sound of the bell,
You get to work late and the boss man’s giving you hell.”
Here is the studio version of Night:
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