Will you walk with me out on the wire?
Cause baby, I’m just a scared and lonely rider.
“Born to Run” is Springsteen’s signature song, and on the surface, it is about riding motorcycles. What elevates this song above “car songs” (like the early Beach Boys) is that it is not just a song about a singer bragging about how great his motorcycle is.
The song is about the escape from the soul-sucking lives we live to put food on our table. At nights (and weekends) there is an opportunity to hop on my motorcycle and feel different. You feel alive, look great and the road can take you anywhere.
Springsteen mentions suicide twice in “Born to Run”. The first time is when he calls motorcycles “suicide machines”. Motorcycles are very dangerous. My uncle has pain 40 years after his motorcycle accident. Springsteen also calls the daily grind from the blue-collar work that never ends a “suicide trap”. For a young man, it is easy to see how risking your life on a motorcycle is appealing. It is just as dangerous as the soul-crushing life you lead, but at least you get to drive fast and have some fun.
We can hear the importance of the E-street Band in this song perhaps more than any other of Springsteen’s songs. The production involves so many instruments woven together to produce a sort of rock symphony. It is production of the finest degree. There are a couple Springsteen tropes in this song that are worth noting. We have his “Wendy” (sometimes “Mary”) his muse similar to Simon’s “Kathy”. We also hear about some locations in New Jersey, which would become a big theme for him.
Born To Run Lyrics
In the day, we sweat it out on the streets
Of a runaway American dream
At night, we ride through mansions of glory
In suicide machines
Sprung from cages out 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 want to guard your dreams and visions
Just wrap your legs ’round these velvet rims
And strap your hands across my engines
Together we could break this trap
We’ll run till 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 find out 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?
written by Bruce Springsteen