Saturday Covers #28

Bruce Springsteen hasn't done too badly for himself, has he? A holder of eighteen Grammy Awards, which is, umm... more than I can say I have. With songs like Born To Run and Born In The U.S.A. (yeah, OK, we get it, you've been born. So have most of us), it's difficult not to appreciate the pure talent this man holds. Obviously, with any popular artist, there's a general feeling that once they've sold more than a million records, they're no longer cool. OK, maybe he's not cool. I still like his music.

But amongst the popular song, has anyone bothered to listen to his very first single, Blinded By The Light? Did anyone actually realise that it was originally by him, rather than the artist I'll be featuring next? It's actually a pretty good song, but it received virtually no attention upon its intial release. Well, you can't win them all, Bruce.

Bruce Springsteen - Blinded By The Light (mp3, 4.7mb)

Of course, this is the version we actually care about. Manfred Mann's Earth Band completely re-arranged Blinded By The Light, turned it upside-down and released it to a massive commercial success. Every second of which it deserved.

I'm a bit biased, as I was pretty much raised on Queen's Jazz... and this. I'm in love with it. Having grown up hearing this version of the song, and only this version, it was actually a great shock to hear that it was in fact a cover - and originally by Bruce Springsteen of all people. Listening to this compared to Bruce's, you can understand my surprise. The constant synthesized quavers, the consistent melodies, the rich texture... none of which was present in the Springsteen version at all. Springsteen's is an enjoyable listen in a feelgood way, but Manfred Mann's is atmospheric, emotional and to be quite honest, amazing. Can I stress it enough?

The contrast between these two arrangements is quite something though. Usually, a cover will have some changes, maybe if you're lucky a genre change, but never anything as significant as this. This is a lucky, rare, occurence and if you're anywhere near as sensible as you make out, seriously, listen to it now. It has my full backing and you can hold me responsible if you don't love every minute.

Oh, and as a special treat, the full seven-minute album version. Who wants four minutes of the single when you could extend that listening pleasure?

Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Blinded By The Light (Album Version) (mp3, 8.2mb)

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Bruce Springsteen -- Manfred Mann's Earth Band

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Bruce Springsteen (International) -- Manfred Mann's Earth Band (UK) (US)