- Hungry Heart
Infobox Single
Name = Hungry Heart
Artist =Bruce Springsteen
from Album = The River
B-side = "Held Up Without a Gun"
Released = October 1980
Format =7" single
Recorded = June1979 at The Power Station in New York
Genre = Rock
Length = 3:19
Label =Columbia Records
Writer = Bruce Springsteen
Producer =Jon Landau , Bruce Springsteen,Steven Van Zandt
Chart position =- #5 (U.S.)
- #44 (UK)
- #28 (UK 1995 reissue)
Reviews =
Last single = "Badlands"
(1978)
This single = "Hungry Heart"
(1980)
Next single = "Fade Away" (1981) (U.S.) "The River" (1981) (UK)"Hungry Heart" is a song written and performed by
Bruce Springsteen on his fifth album, "The River". It was released as the album's first single in 1980 and became Springsteen's first big hit of his own on theBillboard Hot 100 chart.History
When Springsteen met
Joey Ramone inAsbury Park, New Jersey , Ramone asked him to write a song forThe Ramones . Springsteen composed "Hungry Heart" that night, but decided to keep it for himself on the advice of his producer andmanager ,Jon Landau . Previously, upbeat and catchy Springsteen songs such as "Because the Night " and "Fire" had been given away and become hits for others, and Landau was anxious that that trend not continue.The song is easy to assimilate on early hearings, as the verses and the choruses have the same underlying music. However, as with several other numbers on "The River", the song's lyrics don't quite match the mood of the music:
:"Got a wife and kids in Baltimore, Jack!":"I went out for a ride and I never went back.":"Like a river that don't know where its flowing,":"I took a wrong turn and I just kept going"
:"Everybody's got a hungry heart":"Everybody's got a hungry heart":"Lay down your money and you play your part":"Everybody's got a hu-hu-hun-ga-ry heart"
The title is drawn from a line in
Alfred, Lord Tennyson 's famous poem "Ulysses": "...always roaming with a hungry heart...."Springsteen's voice was slightly sped up on the recording, producing a higher-pitched vocal. (
Bob Dylan had done the same thing on 1969's "Lay Lady Lay ".)Mark Volman andHoward Kaylan ofThe Turtles sang backup. The mix of songwriting and production techniques was successful, and "Hungry Heart" reached #5 on theBillboard Hot 100 in late 1980. In the subsequent "Rolling Stone " Readers' Poll, "Hungry Heart" was voted Best Single for the year."Hungry Heart" was used in the 1983
Tom Cruise hit movie "Risky Business "; it was the first time a Springsteen song was used in a film.The single was not a hit in the
United Kingdom when first released, reaching only #44 on theUK Singles Chart . It did better in 1995 when it was reissued in conjunction with his "Greatest Hits" album; this time, it reached #28. When re-released it featured German rock starWolfgang Niedecken and hisLeopardefell band and the video was shot inBerlin .Shortly before his murder in December 1980,
John Lennon praised the song and made a remark about it being his favorite single playing on radio.The "Everybody's Got A Hungry Heart" episode of Japanese
anime series "Battle B-Daman " is named after the lyric in the song.Track listing
# Hungry Heart — 3:19
# Held Up Without a Gun — 1:15"Held Up Without a Gun" is a track from "The River" sessions that began a Springsteen tradition of using songs that did not appear on his albums as
B-side s. A River Tour performance of it is included on "The Essential Bruce Springsteen " compilation album's optional disc. This was the only live performance of the song in a regular Springsteen concert until June 21st 2008 inHamburg on the Magic tour, apart from a rehearsal for 2004'sVote for Change Tour . [cite web|title=setlists|url=http://www.backstreets.com/setlists.html|accessdate=2008-06-30] The studio version has never been released on an album.The cover of the single sleeve shows The Empress Hotel, one of Asbury Park's fading landmarks of the time.
Live performance history
At the beginning of
The River Tour , Springsteen and theE Street Band played the song as an instrumental for the first verse and chorus. During theNovember 20 ,1980 , show inChicago 's Rosemont Horizon, right after the single hit the Top 10, the audience spontaneously sang the lyrics back to the band during this intro. A tradition was thus born of Springsteen always letting the audience sing the first verse and chorus.Such a performance from
December 28 ,1980 atNassau Coliseum (with Volman and Kaylan guesting) is included on the "Live/1975-85 " box set, but the ritual became even stronger during the 1984-1985Born in the U.S.A. Tour , when "Hungry Heart" was a featured selection early in the second set. Even inJapan , where not many fans knew the words, this was still one of the best-received songs of his performances."Hungry Heart" was a regular in Springsteen band concerts through the early 1990s, but beginning with the 1999-2000 E Street Band Reunion Tour, it has only been irregularly performed, exemplifying a later-era Springsteen practice of avoiding his most popular radio hits. When it is played, it is often with guest artists singing along, since it is one of Springsteen's easiest songs to perform.
Performances by others
Rod Stewart performed the song during his 1984 American tour, but was apparently confused by the "Brooocing" reaction of the audience and thought he was being booed.The song has also been recorded by
Jesse Malin ,Minnie Driver ,Mike Love ,Aidan Moffat andLucy Wainwright Roche .External links
* [http://www.brucespringsteen.net/songs/HungryHeart.html Lyrics & Audio clips from Brucespringsteen.net]
References
* Marsh, Dave. "Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s". Pantheon Books, 1987. ISBN 0-394-54668-7.
* [http://www.brucebase.org.uk/8.htm Brucebase recording sessions history]
* [http://www.brucespringsteen.it/DB/Databasex.htm Killing Floor song performance database]
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