Wikipedia

Cover Me (Bruce Springsteen song)

"Cover Me" is a song written and performed by American rock singer Bruce Springsteen. It was the second single released from his 1984 album Born in the U.S.A.. Springsteen wrote the song for Donna Summer. However, his manager, Jon Landau, decided the song had hit potential, and so he kept it for the upcoming Springsteen album. It has been certified Gold in the US.

"Cover Me"
Single by Bruce Springsteen
from the album Born in the U.S.A.
B-side"Jersey Girl" (live)
ReleasedJuly 31, 1984 (1984-07-31)
RecordedMay 12, 1982
StudioPower Station, New York City
GenreRock[1]
Length3:26
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bruce Springsteen
Producer(s)
Bruce Springsteen singles chronology
"Dancing in the Dark"
(1984) 		"Cover Me"
(1984) 		"Born in the U.S.A."
(1984)
Audio
"Cover Me" on YouTube

Background and recording

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The song was first recorded on January 25, 1982 at the Hit Factory in New York City,[2] as a demo version with the E Street Band, during sessions where Springsteen was doing recording for Gary U.S. Bonds' On the Line.[3] Jon Landau's friend David Geffen had asked whether Springsteen could compose a song for Donna Summer (newly signed to Geffen Records), and Springsteen had written "Cover Me".[4] However, Landau felt Springsteen's composition was too good to give away. Although Springsteen did not have a high opinion of the song at the time, he agreed to write and record another demo for Summer, resulting in "Protection".[5] The singer re-recorded "Cover Me" on May 12 at the Power Station, also in New York City, for the version that would later appear on Born in the U.S.A.; he did nine takes.[2] In the couple of years leading up to Born in the U.S.A.'s release, Springsteen recorded about 70 songs as the pool of tracks considered for the album.[6]

Release

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The song peaked at No. 10 on the Cashbox Top 100[7] and No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart[8] in October 1984. It was the second of a record-tying seven Top 10 hit singles to be released from a single album.[9] No music video was made for the song.[10]

Cash Box called the song "a driving, emotional display of classic Boss."[11]

Charts

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[28] Gold 35,000‡
United States (RIAA)[29] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Remixes

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Continuing the club play goal started with "Dancing in the Dark", Arthur Baker created the 12-inch "Undercover Mix" of "Cover Me". This was a large-scale transformation: a new bass line was cut, an unused backing vocal by industry legend Jocelyn Brown was restored, and reggae and dub elements were introduced. It was released on October 15, 1984.

As with the previous effort, the result displeased some of Springsteen's more strait-laced fans, but did gain actual club play: the remix went to number 11 on Billboard's Hot Dance/Disco chart.[20]

Track listings

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7-inch single

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  1. "Cover Me" – 3:26
  2. "Jersey Girl" – 6:15 with an edited spoken introduction, or at 6:10 without a spoken introduction.

The B-side of the single, "Jersey Girl", was a live performance of a Tom Waits song, recorded on July 9, 1981, at Meadowlands Arena. Springsteen had introduced the song earlier in that special River Tour homecoming stand that opened the arena, slightly rewriting it to replace a Waits line about "whores on Eighth Avenue" and adding a verse that included "that little brat of yours and drop[ping] her off at your mom's."[30] This same recording would later be released as the closing track of Live 1975-85.

Differing pressings of the single had different lengths of "Jersey Girl", sometimes dropping most of a spoken introduction of 0:31 seconds in length. The UK 12-inch single contains the full-length version with the complete spoken introduction at 6:36. Both the sleeve and label erroneously state a playing time of 5:50.

12-inch single

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  1. "Cover Me" (Undercover Mix) – 6:09
  2. "Cover Me" (Dub 1) – 4:02
  3. "Cover Me" (Radio Mix) – 3:46
  4. "Cover Me" (Dub 2) – 4:15

CD single (1988)

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  1. "Cover Me" – 3:26
  2. "Pink Cadillac" – 3:33

Live performance history

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Springsteen was unsure of how to play "Cover Me" in concert, and initially it appeared irregularly in the 1984–1985 Born in the U.S.A. Tour. Then, inspired by Arthur Baker's remix, he rearranged it to open and close with a quiet, ominous, extended, echoing segment as new E Street backup singer Patti Scialfa wailed a snippet of Martha & the Vandellas' "Nowhere to Run" (in her one spotlight role of the show) while her future husband reverbed "Cuh ... vuh ... me-ee-ee", after which the song ramped up into showcase guitar work for Springsteen and Nils Lofgren. "Cover Me" thus became a featured song on the tour, often opening the second set; such a performance was included on the 1986 Live 1975–85. "Cover Me" continued as a regular selection on the 1988 Tunnel of Love Express and Human Rights Now! Tours, and the 1992 leg of the "Other Band" Tour (now without Scialfa's part). After December 1992 it was dropped until Springsteen's first concert in Oslo on July 7, 2008. The song has turned up as a semi-regular on the Working On A Dream Tour, especially after Springsteen and the E Street Band began playing the entire Born in the U.S.A. album in New York and Philadelphia.

For his tours between 2002 and 2023, many of the set lists have been published on his official website, Brucespringsteen.net.[31][32] Of these, all of the singer's performances of the song are listed in the table below.[n 1]

Personnel

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According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon:[44]

Notes

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  1. ^ This is based on set lists that were captured in archived versions of his website in November 2008 (for the 2002—2008 tours), May 2017 (for the 2009–2017 tours), and February 2024 (for the 2023 tour).

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Molanphy, Chris (July 16, 2021). "Tramps Like Us Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Heylin 2012, p. 480
  3. ^ Marsh 1987, pp. 106–107
  4. ^ Marsh 1987, pp. 107
  5. ^ Marsh 1987, pp. 107–108
  6. ^ Marsh 1987, pp. 178, 181
  7. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2014). Joel Whitburn's CashBox Pop Hits 1952-1996. Record Research. ISBN 978-0-89820-209-0.
  8. ^ a b "Bruce Springsteen Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  9. ^ Rose 2014
  10. ^ Marsh 1987, p. 266
  11. ^ "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. August 11, 1984. p. 7. Retrieved 2022-07-25.
  12. ^ Kent 1993
  13. ^ RPM Singles (October 20, 1984)
  14. ^ CHUM Chart Archives – Chart Number 1449 – Saturday, October 06, 1984
  15. ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
  16. ^ "Le Détail par Artiste". InfoDisc (in French). Select "Bruce Springsteen" from the artist drop-down menu. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  17. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Cover Me". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  18. ^ "Bruce Springsteen – Cover Me". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  19. ^ "Bruce Springsteen Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  20. ^ a b "Billboard Volume 96 No. 47, November 24, 1984" (PDF). Billboard. New York, NY, USA. 24 November 1984. p. 54. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  21. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles – Week ending September 29, 1984". Archived from the original on 1 October 2012. Retrieved 2017-06-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link). Cash Box magazine.
  22. ^ "Bruce Springsteen – Cover Me" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  23. ^ "Bruce Springsteen – Cover Me". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  24. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  25. ^ RPM – Top 100 Singles of 1984
  26. ^ "Volume 96 No. 51, December 1984" (PDF). Billboard. New York, NY, USA. 22 December 1984. p. TA-19. Retrieved 16 October 2016.
  27. ^ "The Cash Box Year-End Charts: 1984". Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved 2012-09-11.. Cash Box magazine.
  28. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2023 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
  29. ^ "American single certifications – Bruce Springsteen – Cover Me". Recording Industry Association of America.
  30. ^ Zimmerman 2011
  31. ^ a b c Live: 2002–3
  32. ^ a b Live Dates: 2009
  33. ^ Live: 2005
  34. ^ Live: 2006
  35. ^ Live: 2007
  36. ^ Live: 2008
  37. ^ Live Dates: 2012
  38. ^ Live Dates: 2013
  39. ^ Live Dates: 2014
  40. ^ Live Dates: 2015
  41. ^ Live Dates: 2016
  42. ^ Live Dates: 2017
  43. ^ Relive the Tours: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band 2023 Tour
  44. ^ Guesdon 2020, p. 234

References

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Zimmerman, Lee (December 7, 2011). "Happy Birthday, Tom Waits!". New Times Broward-Palm Beach. Archived from the original on September 2, 2023. Retrieved September 2, 2023.


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