"Born to Be Wild" is a song written by Mars Bonfire and first released as a single by Steppenwolf. Although the lyrics do not specifically mention motorcycles, the song is often invoked in both popular and counterculture to denote a biker appearance or attitude since being featured in the 1969 film Easy Rider. Sometimes, "Born to Be Wild" is described as the first heavy metal song, and the second-verse lyric "heavy metal thunder" marks the first use of this term in rock music (although not as a description of a musical style, but rather a motorcycle).[5][6]
Mars Bonfire wrote "Born to Be Wild" as a ballad.[7] Bonfire was previously a member of the Sparrows, the predecessor band to Steppenwolf, and his brother was Steppenwolf's drummer. Although he initially offered the song to other bands — The Human Expression, for one[8] — "Born to Be Wild" was first recorded by Steppenwolf in a sped-up and rearranged version that AllMusic's Hal Horowitz described as "a roaring anthem of turbo-charged riff rock" and "a timeless radio classic as well as a slice of '60s revolt that at once defines Steppenwolf's sound and provided them with their shot at AM immortality".[7]
In 2004, Rolling Stone placed "Born to Be Wild" at number129 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.[11] Also in 2004, it finished at number29 on AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs survey of top tunes in American cinema. In 2009, it was named the 53rd-best hard rock song of all time by VH1 (It had ranked 40th in the 100 Greatest Songs of Rock and Roll by VH1 nine years earlier.).[12] In 2018, the song was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a new category for singles.[13]
In 2021, staff writers at Classic Rock Magazine expressed the belief that "Born to Be Wild" is "probably the first real metal track."[14]
In 1985, the song was covered by Australian band Rose Tattoo. Their version peaked at number 25 in Australia.[39] In 2002, it was covered by Kim Wilde and released as a nonalbum single. Her cover reached number 84 in Germany[40] and number 71 in Switzerland.[41] Belgian singer Tanja Dexters also covered the song in 2002. Her version peaked at number 21 in Belgium.[42]
↑Inglis, Ian (2003). Popular Music and Film. Wallflower Press. p.13. ISBN978-1-903364-71-0. Steppenwolf's 'Born To Be Wild', a gritty, hard-rock song that quickly became an anthem for defiant individualism.
↑Hoskyns, Barney (1996). Waiting for the Sun: The Story of the Los Angeles Music Scene. Viking. p.172. The brilliant soundtrack, including the Byrds' 'Wasn't Born to Follow', Steppenwolf's proto-metal 'Born to be Wild', and Jimi Hendrix's 'If Six Was Nine', helped to set the film in a kind of outlaw-rock'n'roll context.
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