It has been many long years but I have finally looked up the story behind the lyrics to “Blinded by the Light” because I couldn’t stand it anymore. Going to share in case it saves you years of shouting WTF ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT at your radio
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If you listen to the chorus of the recording by Manfred Mann, they very clearly sing that the narrator was “blinded by the light, wrapped up like a douche, another runner in the night.” This has, for forty years, been the king of all non sequiturs.
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Like, people would say “x is the worst non sequitur” and I would say, “Nay, the sudden appearance of a wrapped-up douche in that one song is the worst ever” and they would say oh yeah, I’d blocked that out but thanks for bringing it up again, what the heck were they smoking
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Now if you looked up the lyrics online, you might find different versions. Some said “wrapped up like a deuce” and that is even MORE disturbing because why are you wrapping up your deuce? I guess running away afterward makes sense but still this bears no relationship to light
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Other lyrics claimed that the lyrics were “revved up like a deuce” and that could refer to a deuce coupe, a kind of hot rod. But if so, WOW did they bungle the pronunciation there. Revved and wrapped are pretty different. And they CLEARLY sing douche, not deuce. CONSPIRACY
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Further research reveals that the songwriter, one Mr. Bruce Springsteen, did write about a deuce as in a deuce coupe, and the original lyric was “cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night” but Manfred Mann 1) changed it to “revved up” and 2) recorded it abominably
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The rest of the song also raises innumerable questions, but I could never understand that chorus, where someone is first blinded by a light, wraps up a douche in response, and then runs into the night. Why would Bruce Springsteen write that? What was going on in New Jersey?
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I am *still* not sure I get it, but it is at least marginally less confusing now that I know the chorus was supposed to be about a fast car running in the night. But here’s the thing: PEOPLE ARE COVERING THE SONG AND KEEPING THE INCORRECT DOUCHE LYRIC. I just heard one.
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I wonder if anyone has ever recorded the song with the original lyrics as Springsteen wrote them AND managed not to pronounce “deuce” like “douche.” Pretty sure bands are just recording “wrapped up like a douche” to fuck with us at this point. Anyway. There it is: RESEARCH
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