Open All Night (song)
"Open All Night" is a song written and recorded by rock musician Bruce Springsteen, which first appeared on Springsteen's 1982 solo album Nebraska.
"Open All Night" | ||||
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Single by Bruce Springsteen | ||||
from the album Nebraska | ||||
B-side | "The Big Payback" | |||
Released | November 22, 1982 | |||
Recorded | June 23, 1982 | |||
Genre | Folk rock, rock and roll | |||
Length | 2:58 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bruce Springsteen | |||
Bruce Springsteen singles chronology | ||||
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History
Of the 10 songs on Nebraska, "Open All Night" is the only one to feature an electric guitar. With a Chuck Berry-style guitar riff, the song tells the story of an unnamed narrator's all-night drive across industrial New Jersey to reach his girl, Wanda, whom he met when she was a waitress at the Route 60 Bob's Big Boy.
"Open All Night" was released as a single in the UK, backed by "The Big Payback",[1] but did not chart. It was also released as a single in The Netherlands and Spain.[1] Though never released as a single in the United States,[1] it garnered enough album oriented rock airplay to reach #22 on the U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
Springsteen performed this song infrequently until the Sessions Band Tour of 2006, when it was transformed into an eight-minute "show-stopping rave-up" whose already surreal lyrics[2] were made more strange by being rapped against a big band swing arrangement and a pseudo-Andrews Sisters female backing vocal trio.[3][4][5] This is the version that appears on the Live in Dublin CD and DVD.
Jay Farrar of Son Volt recorded a version which was released in 2005 on A Retrospective: 1995–2000.
In November 2014 Pearl Jam covered the song in Lincoln, Nebraska.[6]
Personnel
According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon:[7]
- Bruce Springsteen – vocals, guitar
References
- "Discography: Vinyl 7 in.: Alphab. sort". Killing Floor. Retrieved 2008-07-22.
- Jeff Vrabel (2006-05-31). "Bruce Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band". PopMatters. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
- Melissa Block (2006-04-26). "Springsteen Speaks: The Music of Pete Seeger". All Things Considered. NPR. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
- Greg Kot (2006-06-16). "The Boss pulls off celebrating Seeger" (fee required). Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
- Glenn Gamboa (2006-06-24). "Boss' folksy party is a hit-and-miss affair". Newsday.
- "Pearl Jam "Open All Night" Live in Lincoln Nebraska 10-9-2014". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2016-11-05.
- Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (2020). Bruce Springsteen All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. London: Cassell Illustrated. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-78472-649-2.