Blinded By The Light

This is Manfred Mann's cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Blinded By The Light," though you'd hardly recognize Springsteen's version after being familiar with this one. And familiar you must be - it has gotten monster airplay on radio stations throughout the English-speaking world, and continues to be played daily. It is one of the most triumphant covers ever recorded.

Manfred Mann altered some of the lyrics, changing "cut loose like a deuce" to "revved up like a deuce," which results in one of the most notorious mondegreens in rock history as generations of fans misheard it as "wrapped up like a douche." Springsteen has even joked that his song didn't become popular until it was re-written to be about feminine hygiene products. Said Springsteen: "Deuce was like a Little Deuce Coupe, as in a 2-seater Hot Rod. Douche is a feminine hygienic procedure. But what can I say, the public spoke." "With 'Blinded by the Light' I didn't really know what it all meant, just that each line sounded right to me," Manfred Mann admitted to Mojo magazine. "I really should have checked more carefully, as Springsteen had written 'cut loose like a deuce.' And in the process of rehearsal, I somehow landed up with 'rapped up like a deuce.' And the record was so difficult to make that I just overlooked the error. I also landed up with a slightly different chord structure, just through my endless fiddling about, not by design."

Two other records set by this song: First, it is so far Bruce Springsteen's only songwriting credit to have a #1 hit. Check The Boss's discography; his highest chart is #2 for "Dancing In The Dark" (hey, that must be what happens after you're blinded...). The other record was the longest a group up to that time had gone between #1 hits; previous to "Blinded by the Light," their #1 was "Do Wah Diddy Diddy."