Blinded By The Light ~ Manfred Mann’s Earth Band

Manfred Mann was a British Beat, R&B and pop band of the 1960s, named after its South African keyboard player and founder, who later led the successful 1970s follow-on group Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.

The Earth Band’s direction was very different from that of Manfred Mann. Mann made a conscious decision to move away from the pop-oriented three-minute format of his former group. The Earth Band was, from a pop perspective, almost deliberately contrary, but combined the stylistic approach of progressive rock with Mann’s distinctive, jazz-influenced Moog synthesizer playing and keen ear for melody.

Blinded by the Light

“Blinded by the Light” is a song written and originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen. It was the first song on, and first single from, Springsteen’s debut album Greetings from Asbury Park N.J. (1973).

Springsteen’s version was initially unsuccessful, and failed to appear on the music charts, though it did later gain airplay on progressive rock radio.

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 (Springsteen version) features the commonly misunderstood lyric, “Blinded by the light, reved up 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 was a British Beat, R&B and pop band of the 1960s, named after its South African keyboard player and founder, who later led the successful 1970s follow-on group Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.

The Earth Band’s direction was very different from that of Manfred Mann. Mann made a conscious decision to move away from the pop-oriented three-minute format of his former group. The Earth Band was, from a pop perspective, almost deliberately contrary, but combined the stylistic approach of progressive rock with Mann’s distinctive, jazz-influenced Moog synthesizer playing and keen ear for melody.

Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Madman drummers bummers,
Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat
In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat
With a boulder on my shoulder, feelin’ kinda older,
I tripped the merry-go-round
With this very unpleasin’, sneezin’ and wheezin,
the calliope crashed to the ground
The calliope crashed to the ground
But she was…
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Some silicone sister with a manager mister told me I go what it takes
She said “I’ll turn you on sonny to something strong,
play the song with the funky break”
And go-cart Mozart was checkin’ out the weather chart to see if it was safe outside
And little Early-Pearly came by in his curly-wurly and asked me if I needed a ride
Asked me if I needed a ride
But she was…
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light
She got down but she never got tired
She’s gonna make it through the night
She’s gonna make it through the night
But mama, that’s where the fun is
But mama, that’s where the fun is
Mama always told me not to look into the eye’s of the sun
But mama, that’s where the fun is
Some brimstone baritone anticyclone rolling stone preacher from the east
Says, “Dethrone the dictaphone, hit it in it’s funny bone,
that’s where they expect it least”
And some new-mown chaperone was standin’ in the corner,
watching the young girls dance
And some fresh-sown moonstone was messin’ with his frozen zone, reminding him of romance
The calliope crashed to the ground
But she was…
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light,
revved up like a deuce,
another runner in the night
Blinded by the light
Madman drummers bummers, Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat
In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat
With a boulder on my shoulder, feelin’ kinda older,
I tripped the merry-go-round
With this very unpleasin’, sneezin’ and wheezin,
the calliope crashed to the ground
Now Scott with a slingshot finially found a tender spot and throws his lover in the sand
And some bloodshot forget-me-not said daddy’s within earshot save the buckshot, turn up the band
Some silicone sister with a manager mister told me I go what it takes
She said “I’ll turn you on sonny to something strong”

Other Songs Posted for this Artist

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