Because the Night - Live at Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY - December 1980

Springsteen gave this song to Patti Smith in 1976 because he thought it would suit her voice. He was also in a legal battle with his manager, Mike Appel, that kept Bruce from recording for about a year. It became the only hit for Patti Smith, whose Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career is based on influential songs that are more challenging for the listener. "Because The Night" made her one of the more unusual one-hit wonders.

When Springsteen gave this to Patti Smith, He had the music and the chorus written, but not the verses. She wrote the words in one night. Smith's version made the song more of a passionate lust story, with the pre-chorus of "touch me now" at the end of the song. When Springsteen performed the song, his lyrics were more comforting to the girl, as he took the persona of a working man ("I work all day out in the hot sun") tempering her fears with his love, telling her, "They can't hurt you now." The different versions provide an interesting contrast, as they show the perspectives of each side of the couple depicted in the song.

This was written in 1976, but Springsteen didn't start performing it until the very end of 1977, and didn't issue a live version until his boxed set Live 1975-1985 in 1986. A studio version didn't appear until 2010 on his album The Promise. This version used Smith's lyrics; his live renditions used different lines, for instance: Come on now try and understand I work all day pushing for the man