The Evolution of Born to Run: "Night"

For the 50th anniversary of Born to Run, here's a track-by-track breakdown of the evolution of each of the songs on the record, going in order from start to finish. Side 1, track 3: “Night.”

“Night”’s journey is a fairly linear one; there are four known versions (including the album version), and only two of the demos are in circulation. A song called “The Night” was recorded at good old 914 Sound Studios in the late summer/fall 1974, and we have no idea what that sounds like. But given that the next two versions are almost identical to what was eventually released, it’s not a huge stretch to guess that that first version probably wasn’t that far from the final product.

The two circulating outtakes either derive from the second stint at 914 Sound Studios or they were recorded after the move to the Record Plant. V2 (going by the Brucebase labeling convention for the sake of consistency) has Bruce mumbling some lyrics throughout, while V3 has more robust (but still rudimentary) production. V3 is known as the one with double-tracked vocals and is slightly more polished. There’s no mumbling, there’s definitely more polished lyrics, but it’s still not the final version we all know and love.