Help soon arrived in the form of pianist Roy Bittan and drummer Max Weinberg, and when recording resumed in April 1975, another important person had entered the picture. Jon Landau was a well-known rock critic who befriended Springsteen a year earlier. Landau convinced Springsteen to move sessions to a better location — the Record Plant in New York City — and offered other in-studio advice. Landau’s work resulted in an co-producer’s credit, and he eventually replaced Mike Appel as Springsteen’s manager.

Released on Aug. 25, 1975 to rave reviews for its cinematic songwriting and updating of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound production, Born to Run landed Springsteen on the covers of Time and Newsweek simultaneously. It reached No. 3 on the Billboard albums chart and has gone on to sell more than 6 million copies. The title track, which had been leaked to some radio stations in the winter of 1974, became Springsteen’s first Top 40 hit.

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Lyrics

In the day we sweat it out on the streets
Of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through the mansions of glory
In suicide machines
Sprung from cages on Highway 9
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected, and steppin’ out over the line
Oh, baby this town rips the bones from your back
It’s a death trap, it’s a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we’re young
‘Cause tramps like us, baby, we were born to run
Yes, girl, we were
Wendy, let me in, I wanna be your friend
I wanna guard your dreams and visions
Just wrap your legs ’round these velvet rims
And strap your hands ‘cross my engines
Together we could break this trap
We’ll run ’til we drop, baby, we’ll never go back
Oh, will you walk with me out on the wire?
‘Cause, baby, I’m just a scared and lonely rider
But I gotta know how it feels
I want to know if love is wild
Babe, I want to know if love is real
Oh, can you show me
Beyond the Palace, hemi-powered drones
Scream down the boulevard
Girls comb their hair in rearview mirrors
And the boys try to look so hard
The amusement park rises bold and stark
Kids are huddled on the beach in the mist
I wanna die with you, Wendy, on the street tonight
In an everlasting kiss
The highway’s jammed with broken heroes
On a last chance power drive
Everybody’s out on the run tonight
But there’s no place left to hide
Together, Wendy, we can live with the sadness
I’ll love you with all the madness in my soul
Oh, someday, girl, I don’t know when
We’re gonna get to that place
Where we really wanna go and we’ll walk in the sun
But ’til then, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run
Oh honey, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run
Come on with me, tramps like us
Baby, we were born to run