...wondering what Manfred Mann's Earth Band song Blinded By The Light is all about.



A version of the song recorded by Manfred Mann's Earth Band was a major hit, reaching #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 on 19 February 1977. As of 2007, the Manfred Mann's Earth Band recording of "Blinded by the Light" is still Springsteen's only Number 1 single as a songwriter on the Hot 100.

In 2007, house music producer Michael Mind produced a version of the song, which was very successful and popular at clubs and discos.


Lyrics

Springsteen wrote the "Blinded By The Light" after most of the others on Greetings were finished and is also one of the few songs for which Springsteen wrote the words before arranging the music.

The song's swiftly-paced, jumbled lyrics are stream of consciousness descriptions of a series of bizarre individuals he met while a young artist in New Jersey. Playing small venues, such as bars along the Jersey Shore, Springsteen recounts various characters from these events. He alludes to Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez, then his drummer, in the opening line "Madman drummers", as well as the "silicone sister" (bartender, possibly referring to an erotic dancer) who encourages him to play a particular, unknown song. United by the chorus: "And (s)he was blinded by the light/cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night/Blinded by the light/(S)he got down but (s)he never got tight,(s)he's gonna make it (alright) tonight", the song goes on to chronicle Springsteen's trouble to get the bar patrons, who rarely cared about or even heard the music, to get excited by his performance.

The meber reference is to the religious conversion of Paul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, but Springsteen was referring metaphorically to the music industry and wealth and fame.

The lyrics of the song feature extensive use of internal rhyme rather than the more common end rhyme, in couplets such as:

    Some brimstone baritone anti-cyclone rolling stone preacher from the east
    He says "Dethrone the dictaphone, hit it in its funnybone, that's where they expect it least."

Springsteen's version has been described as folky and acoustic compared to the Earth Band's hard rock take on the song, which prominently features early electronic keyboards. The theme from the popular piano waltz "Chopsticks" can be heard prominently after the song's bridge.

"Deuce" versus "douche"

The chorus of the song features the commonly misunderstood lyric, "Blinded by the light, cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night." ("Deuce" refers to a '32 Ford Deuce Coupe.) Many listeners hear the word "douche" in place of "deuce." Manfred Mann's Earth Band changed this line slightly to "revved up like a deuce" (often misquoted as "wrapped up like a douche") and repeated it much more frequently in their version than Springsteen did in the original; they also omitted parts of the verses and rearranged the order of the remaining lyrics.

Springsteen, in his 2005 VH1 Storytellers appearance, lightheartedly made the assertion that the sole reason that Manfred Mann's version of the song went to number one is that the altered lyric is actually "revved up like a douche". Bruce said, "The original lyric is 'cut loose like a deuce" referring to a two seat hot-rod, a little deuce coupe. Manfred Mann changed the lyric to 'revved up like a douche', which is a feminine hygienic procedure....so, they're different." It should be noted, however, that Manfred Mann's website lists the lyric as "deuce" rather than "douche". It was once rumored that Chris Thompson's New Zealand accent may be responsible for swapping deuce for douche; however, this cannot be correct as "deuce" said with a New Zealand accent is pronounced something similar to "juice".

    * A reference to the song was made in an episode of Saturday Night Live, where David Spade plays a character who cannot make sense of the lyrics to the refrain of the song. The short-lived sketch comedy show The Vacant Lot featured a group of friends, all with their own different interpretations.