June 17 - Because The Night

So what constitutes a cover version? Today's song is really asking that question. When Bruce Springsteen was recording his Darkness On The Edge Of Town album he was in the same studio complex with Patti Smith, who was recording Easter, and they both used Jimmy Iovine as their producer. Springsteen wrote Because The Night, but Patti Smith ended up being the one recording it and using it at the time, so she has the originally published recorded version of it, and it went on to become her biggest hit. So the question is, can you make a cover version of a song you wrote yourself? I am leaning that way. I still feel Prince's version of Nothing Compares 2 U is a cover version of Sinead O'Connor's version - even though Prince wrote it. I am positive some of you will disagree completely - and that is perfectly fine. However, as the plan for this week materialized, counting Because The Night as a cover version becomes a really nice link in the chain.

Anyway, I really like Patti Smith's version, but when Springsteen released this live version on his Live box set, I really like the power he adds to it. Please enjoy!