B-side "For You" Genre Rock Label Columbia | Released May 1973 Length 5:00 | |
Recorded August–September 1972
914 Sound Studios, Blauvelt, New York | ||
"Spirit in the Night" is a song written and originally recorded by New Jersey-based singer/songwriter Bruce Springsteen for his debut album Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1973). It was also the second single released from the album. A cover version performed by Manfred Mann's Earth Band was released on the album Nightingales and Bombers and as a Top 40 single.
Contents
Original version
The original version of "Spirit in the Night" was released on Bruce Springsteen's debut album, Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. It was one of the last songs to be written and recorded for the release. Springsteen had recorded 10 other tracks for the album, but Clive Davis, president of the record label that was releasing the album, was concerned that the recorded tracks did not have enough commercial appeal. As a result, Springsteen quickly wrote and recorded two additional songs: "Spirit in the Night" and "Blinded by the Light". Because these songs were added so late in the recording process, several of Springsteen's band members were unavailable to record these two songs. As a result, the recording lineup for "Spirit in the Night" was limited to Vini Lopez on drums, Clarence Clemons on saxophone, and Springsteen himself playing all other instruments. Although "Spirit in the Night" was one of the last songs written for the album, it did grow out of an earlier version of the song that Springsteen had played live prior to receiving his recording contract.
Although most of the songs on Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. were packed with lyrics to the extent that sometimes they overwhelm the musical arrangements, "Spirit in the Night" has been described as the one song on the album on which the music and narrative fit together. Clemons' sax playing and Lopez' drumming match the freedom and ebullience described in the lyrics. The lyrics themselves describe a group of teenagers — Wild Billy, Hazy Davy, Crazy Janey, Killer Joe, G-Man and Mission Man, who is the person in the song telling the story — going to a spot called "Greasy Lake" near "Route 88" for a night of freedom, sex, and drinking. But although their escape to the freedom of Greasy Lake is short lived, the emphasis is on the friends' togetherness.
The lyrics of the song echo the Crazy Jane poems of Irish poet William Butler Yeats.
The follow-up album to Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J., The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle, features a song entitled "Wild Billy's Circus Story".
Live performance
Although the release of the song as a single was unsuccessful in the U.S., "Spirit in the Night" has remained a live favorite in Springsteen concerts. Live versions of the song have appeared on the live CD Live/1975–85 and on both the CD and video versions of Hammersmith Odeon London '75. A version with Springsteen playing the song solo on piano appears on the DVD Live in Barcelona. This version is memorable as Springsteen has to start the third verse over again after playing the wrong chords on piano. The studio version of the song was released on the compilation album The Essential Bruce Springsteen.
With 514 live performances as of May 2013, "Spirit in the Night" is by far the most frequently played song from Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. The song live involves important crowd participation, with the audience singing the "all night" verse during the chorus while Springsteen interacts very closely with the front rows, sometimes even throwing himself into the pit.
Personnel
Manfred Mann's Earth Band version
Manfred Mann's Earth Band covered "Spirit in the Night" for their album Nightingales and Bombers, with the title "Spirits in the Night" shown on the album but "Spirit in the Night" on the single. The Manfred Mann version differs from Springsteen's version mostly in its arrangement, relying heavily on keyboards and using different harmonies in the chorus. The album version, featuring Mick Rogers on vocals, peaked at #97 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. The following year, Manfred Mann's Earth Band again released the song as a single with the title "Spirits in the Night", this time with vocals by Chris Thompson. That version reached Billboard's Top 40, peaking at #40. This version was released as a bonus track on the 2004 CD release of The Roaring Silence. "Spirit in the Night" was to be the first of three songs from the Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. album that Manfred Mann would cover — the others being their #1 hit "Blinded by the Light" and "For You."
Greasy Lake
Although Greasy Lake, where the action takes place, is a mythical place, drummer Vini Lopez has stated that it is actually a composite of two locations that band members used to visit. One was Lake Carasaljo, near the intersection of U.S. Route 9 and New Jersey Route 88 in Lakewood, New Jersey. The other was a swampy lake near Garden State Parkway exit 88.
The Greasy Lake in the song inspired a short story named "Greasy Lake" by T.C. Boyle. Like Springsteen's characters, Boyle's characters are restless and looking to party, although they have a more dangerous edge than Springsteen's.