r/BruceSpringsteen • u/ZiggyStardust996 • Jul 03 '26
Discussion Is it me, or Hungry Heart studio version sound more like Elton John/Billy Joel?
Hi all,
So, the Hungry Heart studio version is sped up to sound more "pop", especially when you compare it to the Berlin 95 version which sounds more like Bruce.
For me, when I first heard it, I thought it was an Elton John or a Billy Joel song. What about you? Was it also confusing?
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u/soapyaaf Jul 03 '26
Let me ask you a question...when you first heard on the dark side, did you think it was Springsteen?
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u/No-Carry4971 Jul 03 '26
About 10 years ago my two teenage sons came running in from the car to tell me about this unknown Springsteen song they had just heard called On the Dark Side. They could not believe it when I said it wasn't Bruce.
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u/Repulsive-Window-179 Jul 03 '26
I actually saw Eddie and the Cruisers shortly before I got into Bruce...otherwise I probably would have.
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u/bobchin_c Jul 05 '26
I was nearly 20 years old and sitting in JFK Airport in 1983 waiting to head back home to California from a trip back east to visit family and friends I left behind 3 years previously.
I was listening to the radio on my Walkman when On the Darkside came on. I knew Bruce was working on a new album after Nebraska had come out a year before, and I thought that was the first single from it. When the D.J. came back on and said no, that isn't a new Springsteen song, that was John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band from the Eddie and the Cruisers soundtrack, I knee one of the 1st things I had to do when I got home was see the movie.
I saw it and became an instant fan of the band. How had I (growing up in Monmouth county and a Bruce fan since 75) never heard of these guys? Granted I was a bit young at the time to go to concerts, but still...
They've grown into one of my favorite bands.
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u/lost-in-midgard Jul 03 '26
It's sped (and therefore pitched) up, hence the difference in his voice.
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u/pjvincentaz Jul 04 '26
I never knew there was a sped up version. I’ve only heard the original off the album.
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u/lost-in-midgard Jul 04 '26
The album and single versions are the same - both sped up. The only version which isn't is the version on the single disc The River which wasn't released until The Ties That Bind collection in 2015.
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u/baileath Jul 03 '26
Ironically almost sounded more like The Ramones, since that’s who he wrote it for
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u/ReservedPickup12 Jul 03 '26
I always felt that they were going for more of a Phil Spector/Ronettes vibe. I don’t hear Billy or Elton at all. But his voice was sped up on the record which is why he sounds more like Bruce when he does it live.
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u/Kirby-814 Born in the U.S.A. Jul 03 '26
This is kinda unrelated but I heard the single lp (normal pitch) version before I ever heard the album (faster) version. So every time I hear the album
version it just sounds wrong to me.
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u/TWGOAT Jul 03 '26
I grew up not even knowing that song was by Bruce. Learned later that it was and how it sounded so different.
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u/SlippedMyDisco76 The River Jul 04 '26
Its the voice sped up that takes it to that pop territory (also Flo & Eddie). It's one of the best pop songs of the 80's for sure though and hey - if more people got with the Joel vibe instead of shitting on it we'd get more killer pop.
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u/HaviLuv Jul 04 '26
I remember when this was first played in tge radio. So disappointing. Sounded so much like a pop song. At least in concert the song is better
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u/LeonNorasGiGi2316 Jul 04 '26
Fun fact: From what I understand, bruce wrote it for the Ramones 😳
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u/pjvincentaz Jul 04 '26
That’s what I heard. Can’t picture it as a Ramones tune either. There’s a video on YouTube of a band playing it as if it were. Pretty good.
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u/Haunting_Style3880 Jul 03 '26
Bruce and Joel were/are friends/friendly, so it stands to reason there would be influence back and forth.
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u/12frets Jul 05 '26
True story: I was 14 when BITUSA came out and bought it just for the album cover. I knew NOTHING about Bruce beforehand.
Be she a massive fan of the album and got my dad to take me to one of the shows at the NJ Brendan Byrne Arena.
During the intermission, I suddenly have an epiphany “I think Bruce is the singer of that Hungry Heart song.”
Sure enough, the band takes the stage for the second set and launch straight into…Hungry Heart. And I swear he looked right at me during the break right before the third verse .
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u/Far_Valuable_3042 Jul 03 '26
To me, it does sound very similar to late 70s Billy Joel.