The Plot Twist Behind the Classic Bruce Springsteen Song He Originally Wrote for The Ramones

All of the best songwriters have songs pouring out of their ears, and consequently, they are awfully generous with even their most precious work. John Prine and Bonnie Raitt, Neil Diamond, and The Monkees, and then Bob Dylan and Adele are just a few examples of this trend. Though, another set of artists to be a part of this trend is Bruce Springsteen and The Ramones.

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Springsteen and The Ramones might sound different, but they did walk the same walk, talk the same talk, and as a result, they both ruled rock ‘n’ roll in the ’70s and ’80s. Their similarities of course emerged from an admiration between the two parties. As a matter of fact, Springsteen liked The Ramones so much that he wrote a song just for them.

Bruce Springsteen and “Hungry Heart”

In a 2015 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Bruce Springsteen expressed his affection for the founders of punk rock and how it amounted to him writing a song for them. He told Fallon, “I saw the Ramones in Asbury Park” and “We were talking for a while, and I was like, ‘Man I’ve got to write the Ramones a song.’”

Subsequently, Bruce Springsteen went home and did just that in a rather swift fashion. He added, “So I went home, and I sat at my table, and I wrote it in about the time it took me to sing it.” The song Springsteen is talking about is his classic hit, “Hungry Heart.” That being so, you’d think The Ramones would have been all over it, however, the story has quite the plot twist.

Upon finishing the song, Springsteen recalled when he first discussed the tune with The Ramones. “I brought it in, and we went to make a demo for it, or I played it for [Johnny Ramone],” he recalled. Generously and surprisingly, Ramone responded to Springsteen and said, “Nah, you better keep that one,” per Springsteen.

Well, it seems Springsteen’s generosity was met with more generosity. When Springsteen released “Hungry Heart” in 1980, it became the lead single from his fifth studio album, The River. Furthermore, it peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1980. If this song had gone to The Ramones, who knows what Bruce Springsteen’s career as a frontman would have transformed into? Although, we do not need to worry about that, and it’s thanks to Johnny Ramone.

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