Because the Night
"Because the Night" is a rock song written by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith that appears on the Patti Smith Group album Easter, which was released in 1978. On March 2, 1978, the song was released as a single, and was commercially successful, reaching No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and No. 5 in the United Kingdom, which helped propel Easter to mainstream success.
| "Because the Night" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. and some European releases picture sleeve | ||||
| Single by Patti Smith Group | ||||
| from the album Easter | ||||
| B-side | "God Speed" | |||
| Released | March 2, 1978 | |||
| Recorded | August 1977 | |||
| Studio | Record Plant, New York City, U.S. | |||
| Genre | Rock, new wave | |||
| Length | 3:22 | |||
| Label | Arista | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith | |||
| Producer(s) | Jimmy Iovine | |||
| Patti Smith singles chronology | ||||
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| Audio | ||||
| "Because the Night" by Patti Smith on YouTube | ||||
The song has been covered by several artists. In 1993, a live acoustic version was recorded by 10,000 Maniacs, featuring Natalie Merchant, for MTV Unplugged. This version reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the highest charting version of the song in the U.S. The song also became 10,000 Maniacs highest charting single in the U.S. and Canada.
In 1987, the song was ranked No. 116 on NME magazine's list of "The Top 150 Singles of All Time". It remains the best-known song of Smith's catalog. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked it No. 358 on "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The Independent listed the song as one of the ten best new wave singles of 1978.