Born to Be Wild
song written and composed by Mars Bonfire, originally recorded by Steppenwolf in 1967 and released in 1968
"Born to Be Wild" is the third single off Canadian-American rock group Steppenwolf's self-titled first studio album. The song was released in June 1968.
| "Born to Be Wild" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Steppenwolf | ||||
| from the album Steppenwolf | ||||
| B-side | "Everybody's Next One" | |||
| Released | June 1968[1] | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
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| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | Mars Bonfire | |||
| Producer(s) | Gabriel Mekler | |||
| Steppenwolf singles chronology | ||||
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On the Billboard charts, the song was able to peak at #2 on the Hot 100.[6]
In 2004, the song was ranked #130 on the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list by Rolling Stone.[7] It has also been ranked at #53 on the 100 Hard Rock Songs list by VH1.[8] The song was first featured in the 1969 movie Easy Rider and has since been featured in many movies, trailers, TV shows and commercials. It was ranked #29 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of the top songs in American cinema.[9]
References
change- ↑ "U.S. Metal's Lost Legends". Record Collector. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- ↑ Inglis, Ian (2003). Popular Music and Film. Wallflower Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-903364-71-0.
Steppenwolf's 'Born To Be Wild', a gritty, hard rock song that quickly became an anthem for defiant individualism.
- ↑ "Heavy Metal". Billboard. Vol. 99, no. 18. May 10, 1986. p. H-1. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ↑ Dimery, Robert, ed. (2011). "The Pusher – Steppenwolf (1968)". 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die. Octopus Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-84403-717-9.
- ↑ Hoskyns, Barney (1996). Waiting for the Sun: The Story of the Los Angeles Music Scene. Viking. p. 172.
The brilliant soundtrack, including the Byrds' 'Wasn't Born to Follow', Steppenwolf's proto-metal 'Born to be Wild', and Jimi Hendrix's 'If Six Was Nine', helped to set the film in a kind of outlaw-rock'n'roll context.
- ↑ "Steppenwolf Album & Song Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2016-09-18. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
- ↑ "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2015-03-17. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
- ↑ "Vh1 Top 100 Hard Rock Songs". Spreadit.org. Archived from the original on 2012-03-21. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
- ↑ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs". American Film Institute. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
