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"Blinded by the Light" is a song written and originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen, although it is mostly known by its 1976 #1 hit version recorded by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. It was released in the United Kingdom in August 1976, where it reached No. 6 in the BMRB charts.
"Blinded by the Light" was the first song on, and first single from, Bruce Springsteen's 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park N.J. Springsteen's version was commercially unsuccessful and did not appear on the music charts.
Lyrics
The Earth Band's recording of the song features several changed lyrics. The most prominent change is in the chorus, where Springsteen's "cut loose like a deuce" is replaced with "revved up like a deuce."
This is commonly misheard as "wrapped up like a douche (the V sound in "revved" is almost unpronounced and the S sound in "deuce" is easy to mistake as an "SH" sound). Springsteen himself has joked about the controversy, claiming that it was not until Manfred Mann rewrote the song to be about a "feminine hygiene product" that it became popular.
Cover versions and reissues:
Manfred Mann's Earth Band released a version of the song on their album The Roaring Silence. Their version includes the Chopsticks melody played on piano. The song reached #1 on both Billboard's Hot 100 and on the Canadian RPM chart on 19 February 1977. The Manfred Mann's Earth Band recording of "Blinded by the Light" is Springsteen's only Number 1 single as a songwriter on the Hot 100. In 2002, Danish act Funkstar Deluxe released its disco version of this song.
A "jazzified" version can be found on Springsteen's Live in Dublin album, recorded with the Sessions Band.
The song is featured in the films Blow and Running with Scissors.
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