Song #44 on the Popdose Top 100 Covers list is “Blinded By The Light”, originally by Bruce Springsteen and covered by Manfred Mann’s Earth Band. Here’s the original:
Note that the lyric is “Cut loose like a deuce”, not “ripped off like a douche”, or whatever it is you hear Manfred Mann sing. “Deuce” is old timey slang for the devil, so think of it as “Cut loose like a bat out of hell” and it suddenly makes sense, no? Here’s the Manfred Mann cover:
OK, “Revved up like a deuce” works, too. I think I’ve heard this version on the radio a hundred times for each time I’ve heard the original, maybe more. Manfred Mann made a pretty good living covering Springsteen – they recorded their own version of two other songs from “Greetings From Asbury Park”, “Spirit In The Night” and “For You”. I actually heard their “Spirit In The Night” the other day. But needless to say, this is the one for which they’re best known.
There’s a third version of “Blinded By The Light” that deserves mention, and it’s the remake of it Springsteen did with the Seeger Sessions Band. Here’s the video of that live recording:
I think that one’s my favorite. I learned about it after making a request to Coverville a couple of years ago.
Don’t you think it’s “duece” as in “little duece coupe?”