Blinded by the Light

Last time I said I make sure it would be easy to decide the winner of the next post. And I’m fairly confident that I've managed that with this one. The song is Blinded by the Light by Bruce Springsteen, and the cover is by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.

Bruce Springsteen:

Manfred Mann:

Springsteen recorded it for his 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park N.J. It was the first single off the album. It didn't even chart.

Manfred Mann’s version was released in 1976, and it ended up being a number 1 hit! How the heck did that even happen? The only reason I can think of is that it was the 70’s. Also the cover version is Springsteen’s only number 1 writing credit ever. This is just backwards.

So I guess you can already tell who I think wins. Clearly it’s Springsteen. The Manfred Mann version just really rubs me the wrong way. It’s just got so much going on and it seems so mangled. It’s like a DDR version of the original 25 years before DDR was a thing.  There’s even a 7 minute version. Which, by the way, I sat through. I didn't use that one for the comparison because the 4 minute one is enough. I can barely get all the way through that one.

I admit, that I've talked to more than one person who says they like the Manfred Mann version more than Springsteen’s, but I’m pretty sure in nearly all those cases the person just hasn't actually heard Springsteen’s version, or they really like DDR.

Springsteen’s version is so good.  It’s classic Springsteen. Just listen to it. It’s amazing.

Actually, I credit this song for totally saving my life, well, that and the fact that I’m a superb driver. (Uh oh, it’s story time). I was totally driving my car and the guy in front of me changed lanes into a turning lane, thinking that he could go straight in it. But he couldn't when he realized that he was about to drive into a concrete barrier, he slowed right down and changed back into my lane. The speed limit was 80 kilometers per hour which is basically like 50 miles per hour for people who use miles. I did not have room to stop. A semi was passing me in the lane beside me. So I got on the gas and squeezed between the semi and the guy who dropped anchor in front of me. I was literally thinking this is my only chance, and I just went for it and some how, the next thing I new I was in the lane to my right in front of the semi and I had not crashed at all. At that point the refrain started, the part where Bruce is like, “Blinded by the light, cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night.” So yeah that happened.