Remembering When Bruce Springsteen Wrote a Song for Donna Summer, Then Had Second Thoughts About Giving It Away in 1982

Bruce Springsteen has filled up his catalog with powerful songs that he’s written. Along the way, he has occasionally written songs with the intent for others to record. On a few of those occasions, he pulled those songs back for himself once he heard the finished result.

Videos by American Songwriter

In 1982, Springsteen wrote a song for Donna Summer. And then he wrote another one, because people around him insisted that the first one was too good to cough up.

Pressure on Summer

Donna Summer staked her claim as the Queen of Disco in the late 70s. But once that genre faded from the radio at the turn of the 80s, she needed to adjust her artistic direction. The pressure was on her to do so, as she had recently signed with Geffen Records. Mogul David Geffen was anxious for results.

Geffen convinced Summer to work with Quincy Jones for her 1982 self-titled album, leaving behind her longtime collaborator Giorgio Moroder in the process. Jones was coming off the mega-success of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Geffen figured he was the right guy to boost Summer’s commercial prospects once again.

But Geffen wasn’t taking any chances. He reached out to Jon Landau, Springsteen’s producer/manager, to see if The Boss would be willing to write a song for Summer. Springsteen obliged. Landau, however, quickly put the kibosh on the deal when he heard the song Springsteen delivered.

Take This One Instead

Springsteen was in the middle of working with Gary U.S. Bonds when he received Landau’s request. He quickly churned out the song “Cover Me” in January 1982 and just as hastily assembled the E Street Band to record a demo. When Landau heard the song, he loved it and advised Springsteen not to give it away.

Springsteen wasn’t so sure about the song himself. Not long before he recorded it, he had written and demoed the folk-based songs that would make up his Nebraska album. Comparing “Cover Me” to those songs, he felt it was slight. Luckily, Landau had an inkling that the song just might come in handy.

Springsteen went with Landau’s advice and returned to the drawing board, coming up with “Protection” for Summer. To sweeten the deal, he headed to Los Angeles with E Street Band keyboardist Roy Bittan to play on the track. “Protection” showed up as an album track on the Donna Summer album and was released as a single overseas to modest success.

An Effective “Cover”

A few months after the demo was made, Springsteen and the E Street Band recorded a more fleshed-out version of “Cover Me”. He was in the early stages of the protracted process of making the Born In The U.S.A. album, a process during which he would write and record in the neighborhood of 70 songs.

When Springsteen came up with tentative track listings for the album, he rarely included “Cover Me”. But Landau, wanting The Boss to include more radio-friendly songs, kept pushing for it. Springsteen eventually agreed.

In fact, Springsteen came around to the song to the extent that he made it the album’s second single, following “Dancing In The Dark”. “Cover Me”, even without a video to promote it, hit No. 7 on the US pop charts, the second of an incredible seven singles from Born In The U.S.A. to make the Top 10.

Photo By Rick Diamond/Getty Images