Hungry Heart
"Hungry Heart" | ||||
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Single by Bruce Springsteen | ||||
from the album The River | ||||
B-side | "Held Up Without a Gun" | |||
Released | October 21, 1980 | |||
Recorded | June 23, 1979 | |||
Studio | Power Station, New York City[1] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:19 (single version)
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Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bruce Springsteen | |||
Producer(s) |
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Bruce Springsteen US singles chronology | ||||
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Bruce Springsteen UK singles chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Billboard | (unrated)[5] |
"Hungry Heart" is a ballad written and performed by Bruce Springsteen on his fifth album, The River. It was released as the album's lead single in 1980 and became Springsteen's first big hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart peaking at number five.
History
When Springsteen met
The title is drawn from a line in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's famous poem "Ulysses": "For always roaming with a hungry heart".
Springsteen's voice was slightly sped up on the recording, producing a higher-pitched vocal, a technique first used by Brian Wilson in the production of "Caroline, No" in 1966. (Dire Straits had done the same thing on 1978's "Setting Me Up".) Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of The Turtles sang backup. The mix of songwriting and production techniques was successful, and "Hungry Heart" reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1980 and was his biggest hit until "Dancing in the Dark" hit No. 2 in 1984. In the subsequent Rolling Stone Readers' Poll, "Hungry Heart" was voted Best Single for the year.[citation needed]
The single was his first British hit in the United Kingdom, although only spending 4 weeks on the
John Lennon, on the day of
In popular culture
"Hungry Heart" was used on several movie soundtracks over the years, including the obscure 1982 Israeli film Kvish L'Lo Motzah (a.k.a. Dead End Street, which was the first motion picture to feature Springsteen music), the 1983 Tom Cruise hit movie Risky Business,[7] the 1992 dramedy Peter's Friends, and the 1998 Adam Sandler comedy The Wedding Singer. In 2000 the song was used in the film The Perfect Storm as well as in 2013 in Warm Bodies.
The "Everybody's Got a Hungry Heart" episode of Japanese anime series Battle B-Daman is named after the lyric in the song.
Reception
Billboard described "Hungry Heart" as "a magnificently styled midtempo love song" with an "extremely memorable" hook.[8] Record World said that "If radio's immediate approval of this rush-release is any indication of its success, then the Boss has his first pop hit."[9]
The song has also been listed as the No. 1 single of 1980 by Dave Marsh and Kevin Stein[10] and as one of the 7500 most important songs from 1944 through 2000 by Bruce Pollock.[citation needed] It was also listed as No. 625 on Marsh's list of the 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made.[11]
Music video
No music video was recorded for the initial release in 1980; however, a video clip was filmed for the song's re-release in 1995. This was filmed on July 9, 1995, at the tiny Café Eckstein in Berlin, Prenzlauer Berg. The video featured German rock star Wolfgang Niedecken and his "Leopardefellband", although neither are heard on the actual audio track, as this so-called "Berlin 95" version (which was also released on CD singles) just features Springsteen's live vocals and audience noise laid over the song's original 1980 E Street Band studio recording.
Track listing
- "Hungry Heart" – 3:19
- "Held Up Without a Gun" – 1:15
"Held Up Without a Gun" is a track from The River sessions that began a Springsteen tradition of using songs that did not appear on his albums as
The cover of the single sleeve shows the Empress Hotel, one of Asbury Park's fading landmarks of the time.
Live performance history
At the beginning of
Such a performance from December 28, 1980, at
"Hungry Heart" was a regular in Springsteen band concerts through the early 1990s, but beginning with the 1999–2000 E Street Band Reunion Tour, it has only been irregularly performed, exemplifying a later-era Springsteen practice of avoiding his most popular radio hits.
"Hungry Heart" regained its prominent placement in setlists during the 2009
Personnel
According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon:[12]
- Bruce Springsteen – vocals, guitars
- Roy Bittan – piano
- Clarence Clemons – baritone saxophone
- Danny Federici – organ, glockenspiel
- Garry Tallent – bass
- Steven Van Zandt – guitars, backing vocals
- Max Weinberg – drums
- Mark Volman – backing vocals
- Howard Kaylan – backing vocals
Chart history
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA)[27] | Platinum | 70,000‡ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[28] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
United Kingdom (BPI)[29] sales since 2007 |
Silver | 200,000‡ |
United States (RIAA)[30] | Gold | 500,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Cover versions
The song has also been recorded by
References
- ^ "The River – Studio Sessions". Brucebase.wikidot.com. Retrieved August 24, 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Bruce Springsteen | Reason to Rock".
- ^ "Did You Know? Bruce Springsteen Originally Wrote "Hungry Heart" for the Ramones". 26 June 2023.
- ^ "Bruce Springsteen's 'The River' at 35: Classic Track-by-Track Album Review". Billboard.
- ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved May 30, 2020 – via American Radio History.
- ^ "John Lennon - The Last Interview, 12/8/1980 Part 15". YouTube. Archived from the original on September 8, 2019. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
- ^ "Cue Sheet – Music from the film 'Risky Business' | 360°Sound". 360degreesound.com. 2022-10-05. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
- ^ "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard Magazine. November 1, 1980. p. 91. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
- ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. November 1, 1980. p. 1. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
- ^ Marsh, D. & Stein, K. (1981). "Top of the Pops: The Best of the Top 40 Singles by Year "Book of Rock Lists"". Retrieved May 28, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ISBN 978-0-306-80901-9. Archived from the originalon February 4, 2002.
- ISBN 978-1-78472-649-2.
- ^ "Bruce Springsteen – Hungry Heart" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
- ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Bruce Springsteen – Hungry Heart" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Hungry Heart". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
- ^ a b "Bruce Springsteen - Hungry Heart". Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Retrieved May 13, 2022.
- ^ "Bruce Springsteen – Hungry Heart". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
- ^ "Bruce Springsteen – Hungry Heart". Singles Top 100. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
- ^ "Bruce Springsteen: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
- ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Singles, January 24, 1981". Archived from the original on February 22, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
- ^ "Bruce Springsteen – Hungry Heart" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
- ^ Cash Box Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles, December 27, 1980
- ^ The 1981 Top 100 Singles chart is identified by the RPM Year-End article "Top 100 Singles (1981)". RPM. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
- ^ "Number One Awards – Billboard's 1981 Year-End Charts : Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 93, no. 51. December 26, 1981. p. YE-9. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
- ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2023 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
- ^ "Danish single certifications – Bruce Springsteen – Hungry Heart". IFPI Danmark. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
- ^ "British single certifications – Bruce Springsteen – Hungry Heart". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
- ^ "American single certifications – Bruce Springsteen – Hungry Heart". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
- ^ "Rod Stewart Hungry Heart 1984 09 03 Wantagh, NY (audio only)". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 19, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2016.
Bibliography
- ISBN 0-394-54668-7.
External links