[cyclonite]

It took him six months during the spring and summer of 1974 to record the title track. Van Zandt now laughs at the thought of it. “Anytime you spend six months on a song, there’s something not exactly going right,” he says. “A song should take about three hours.” But Bruce was working with classic-rock motifs and images, searching for the right balance musically and lyrically. Born to Run marked a change in Springsteen’s writing style. Whereas previously it seemed as if he had a rhyming dictionary open beside him, now his lyrics became simultaneously more compact and explosive. What mattered to him was to sound spontaneous, not to be spontaneous. “Spontaneity,” he said, in 1981, “is not made by fastness. Elvis, I believe, did like 30 takes of ‘Hound Dog,’ and you put that thing on,” and it just explodes.

[Saul]

It’s hard to believe now, but Bruce Springsteen almost didn’t reach stardom. He had a nice local following in New Jersey and, for some reason, pockets of fans in Virginia and Texas, but in 1974, when he entered the studio to begin recording his third album, Born to Run, he was widely seen by industry types and disc jockeys as a carbonated prospect who had fizzled. His first two albums had hardly sold, despite positive reviews. He carried the burden of being labeled the next Dylan by none less than John Hammond, the executive who discovered the original. Springsteen was signed by Columbia as a solo act, but he showed up with a band. Those who saw him in small clubs loved his spirited, tireless live performances, but there were lots of riveting artists who wrote a decent song or two, drew some acclaim, and then faded away.

[mtgox]

Springsteen knew that the stakes for the third album were high. Garry Tallent, the bassist in the E Street Band, recalls, “We were ready to be booted from the label.” Keyboardist Roy Bittan remembers that Bruce “felt everything was on the line.” Guitarist Steve Van Zandt says that if the third record “didn’t make it, it seemed obvious that it was going to be the end of the record career.” To make matters more difficult, Bruce’s ambition was as towering as the pressure. He would not settle. Years later, he recalled, “When I did Born to Run, I thought, ‘I’m going to make the greatest rock ’n’ roll record ever made.’ ”

[kaja]

The alternate mixes of “Born to Run” that are available reveal some of the ways in which Springsteen experimented musically. In one, a female chorus joins him in the background when he sings, “get out while we’re young,” “got to know how it feels,” and “walk in the sun.” Musically, the strings at various points are more prominent than they would be in the final version. It’s easy to see why Bruce rejected this mix: The chorus and strings make the song too ethereal and distance it from the driving force of the beat. In another mix, Springsteen’s lead vocal is doubled, the chorus is still intact, and the strings at the end of the song are even more pronounced. Two other mixes play with the balance of strings and bass. At one point, the band experimented with different sound effects such as streetcars and drag racing. more

[protein87]

here

[DarkMatter]

[spaceshaker]

I was in the midst of giving myself a crash tutorial in fifties and sixties rock ’n’ roll. I had a small table holding a record player at the side of my cot, so I was just one drowsy roll away from dropping the needle onto my favorite album of the moment.

[mustvisit]

From Elvis came the record’s physical thrust; Dylan, of course, threaded through the imagery and the idea of not just writing about SOMETHING but writing about EVERYTHING.

[Alex8844]

This was the new lay of the land, and if I was going to put my characters out on that highway, I was going to have to put all these things in the car with them. That’s what was due, what the times demanded. here

[JosephT.Holt]

You probably already know running is good for you, but you may not know just how good it is. In Christopher McDougall’s speech, “Are We Born to Run?” the benefits of running are described in great detail using pathos in a touching story, logos in the form of medical science, and extreme-distance runners for a splash of ethos. McDougall’s speech is primarily focused on the benefits of running, and you may be surprised to hear what he has to say.
This piece opens with the story of Derartu Tulu, who slows down to help another runner in the New York City Marathon. During the run, Derartu slows down to help Olympic gold medalist Paula Radcliffe. Twice she does this, and the second time Paula says “I’m done. Go!” Derartu then, as McDougall said, “blazes past” the other runners, and wins the race. The incredible part of this story is, Derartu hadn’t won a marathon in eight years, and had nearly died three months prior to this race giving birth. McDougall points out the pathos of this story, and jumps right into logos when he says “It’s a heartwarming story, but if you drill a little bit deeper, you’ve got to sort of wonder what’s going on there.”
McDougall begins to set up the basis for his persuasion using logos by stating that two outlying traits probably aren’t a coincidence. Derartu was both exceptionally compassionate, and exceptionally competitive. McDougall furthers his logos with his next example, which is the Copper Canyon natives. The Copper Canyon natives, McDougall states, are far beyond marathons. They regularly run 100 to 150 miles at a time, even at 70 years old! There’s a dash of pathos here, when one thinks “Wow, I wish I could do that now, let alone at 70 years of age!” People running that far is certainly an unusual phenomenon. Also unusual is their apparent lack of cancer, running injuries, and sickness. Again, McDougall points out two odd things and says he doesn’t think they can be coincidental. His combination of logos and repetition work well.
On we go to to the part of McDougall’s speech where he really begins to build up the logos. He submits three mysteries to us: more

[mike_la_jolla]

Women are terrible at sprinting. The female record 1-mile is around 4:15. Many high school males can beat that. Strangely, though, women are only 10 minutes away from the male world-record marathon time. How do women get stronger as races get longer?

[gaetaneelle24]

Marathoners who start at age 19 get faster and faster until age 27, and then taper back off to their original time. It takes until you’re 64 years old to slow all the way back down to your 19-year old run time. Can you name another physical activity where geriatrics perform as well as teenagers? [links]

[DarkMatter]

I agree with whoever said it is about Street Racing, but it is using racing as a metaphor for escaping from jersey and young love. [links]

[george14]

It's always up to Wendy what happens next. She can either sing "Hit the Road, Jack"or "Johnny Angel" in response. here

[jaymac407]

Accordingly to the man who wrote the song - it is about freedom.

[cdnbcguy]

Born to run is the state song of New Jersey, even though it's about getting out of the "godforsaken" town. LOL

[cdb000]

Springsteen captures all the hunger and doubt, fear and courage you are swallowed by when you are stepping out into the world for the first time on your own. This is about a time when your own chemicals, burning up inside you, drive you forward with an irresistible force; and while some around you understand, others think you're crazy or reckless; but you just don't know any other way to take the next step.

[Cablesaurus]

Actually this song isn't about racing, if you were in Asbury Park N.J., in the early 70's it's about the strip in Asbury, Ocean Ave was called the circut( because everybody rode up and down showing off their cars, the palace(beyond the palace heavy powered drones scream down the boulevard) was an amusement park building that was recently torn down, Bruce was pretty much longing to get back to his roots in Jersey and the days when he palyed the Stone Pony