Songfacts®:

• Springsteen gave this song to Patti Smith in 1976 because he thought it would suit her voice. He was also in a legal battle with his manager, Mike Appel, that kept Bruce from recording for about a year. It became the only hit for Patti Smith, whose Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career is based on influential songs that are more challenging for the listener. "Because The Night" made her one of the more unusual one-hit wonders.
• When Springsteen gave this to Patti Smith, He had the music and the chorus written, but not the verses. She wrote the words in one night.
  
  Smith's version made the song more of a passionate lust story, with the pre-chorus of "touch me now" at the end of the song. When Springsteen performed the song, his lyrics were more comforting to the girl, as he took the persona of a working man ("I work all day out in the hot sun") tempering her fears with his love, telling her, "They can't hurt you now." The different versions provide an interesting contrast, as they show the perspectives of each side of the couple depicted in the song.
• This was written in 1976, but Springsteen didn't start performing it until the very end of 1977, and didn't issue a live version until his boxed set Live 1975-1985 in 1986. A studio version didn't appear until 2010 on his album The Promise. This version used Smith's lyrics; his live renditions used different lines, for instance:
  
  Come on now try and understand
  I work all day pushing for the man
• This continued a tradition of Springsteen writing hit songs that were popularized by other artists. Blinded By The Light" was a hit for Manfred Mann and "Fire" scored for The Pointer Sisters.
• Springsteen had one of his recording engineers, Jimmy Iovine, give the song to Patti Smith - Iovine was producing her album Easter at the time. Iovine, who later worked with John Lennon, Tom Petty, and Dr. Dre, credits the song with launching his career.
• Springsteen joined Patti Smith on stage a number of times in the '70s when legal battles kept him from recording. Bruce played it at most of his concerts up to the mid '80s.
• Springsteen cut versions of this song for his albums Darkness On The Edge Of Town and The River, but left it off both times.
• This song was revived in 1993 when 10,000 Maniacs performed it on their MTV Unplugged special, which aired June 1, 1993. It was one of the last appearances lead singer Natalie Merchant made with the band; she told them she was leaving a year earlier, but this was not known to the public. (10,000 Maniacs did an Unplugged in 1990, and became the first band to return to the show. MTV let them do it again because their manager let them in on the secret.)
  
  Merchant wanted something special for the performance, so she had the band do "Because The Night," which was augmented by a string section for the show. She delivered a stirring vocal and the acoustic arrangement gave the song a fresh new sound. It proved one of the most memorable moments in the history of the series, and MTV put the clip in rotation. This version was released as a single and made a steady climb up the charts, reaching #11 US in February 1994. It was by far their biggest hit, and the album, 10,000 Maniacs MTV Unplugged, became their best seller. Merchant was long gone by this time, having performed her last show with the group in July 1993. After taking some time off, she issued her first solo album, Tigerlily, in 1995. MTV was happy to put the videos for "Carnival" and "Wonder" into rotation, and the album became a huge hit. 10,000 Maniacs soldiered on with new lead singer Mary Ramsey. Both band and Merchant made it clear that they wished each other well.
• Guitarist Nils Lofgren, who joined the E Street Band in 1984, put his own spin on this song when he came into the fold. In his Songfacts interview, he said, "Youngstown" and "Because the Night" have turned into very extended solos that I put some time into crafting themes that I can move through and improv around, but would always build. There was always time and love and work put into those solos."
  
  On some shows, Springsteen would turn the microphone over to Lofgren, who would sing lead on this track.
• Bruce Springsteen sang "Because The Night" at a Patti Smith tribute concert held at Carnegie Hall on March 26, 2025. "If I had sung this song it would not have been a hit," he said when introducing it. "It needed her voice and her incredible lyrics."
  
  He later joined her to perform her song "People Have the Power" along with other artists who participated in the tribute, including Alison Mosshart, Courtney Barnett, Michael Stipe and Sharon Van Etten.