Listen to only the lyrics and the contour
of the melody in the video below. 

Ignore the instrumentation.
Give it 60 seconds, then come back and finish reading this.

Are you there yet? If so, you shouldn’t be surprised to learn this 1976 hit song by Manfred Mann was originally written and released by Bruce Springsteen on his debut album in 1973. It’s very easy for me to imagine Springsteen singing this song and even easier to believe that he wrote it. In the end, whether or not a song gains traction comes down to arrangement, instrumentation and style. In most songs, the words are tertiary at best.

“Revved uplike a deuce,” by the way, refers to a 1932 Ford “deuce coupe,” commonly hot-rodded and drag raced by the generation Springsteen would have admired as a young boy.

“Another runner in the night,” the song is about living fast and on the edge. Halfway up the upswing of a “Me,” 1963-1983. Pendulum.