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"Because the Night" is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith that was first released in 1978 as a single off the Patti Smith Group album Easter. It rose to #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as #5 in the United Kingdom, and helped propel sales of Easter to mainstream success—even as Smith was deciding to retire from a life of constant touring. In 1987, the song was ranked #116 on NME magazine's list of "The Top 150 Singles of All Time". It remains one of the best known songs of Smith's catalog.
The song was originally recorded by Bruce Springsteen during sessions for his Darkness on the Edge of Town album. He was not satisfied with it and later declared he already knew he wasn't going to finish it since it was "a[nother] love song"; the Patti Smith Group was working on Easter in the studio next door, with engineer/producer Jimmy Iovine working on both albums. Iovine gave Smith a tape of the song, she recast it, only retaining the chorus "Because the night belongs to lovers", and it was included on Easter, becoming the first single released from that album. Though it was never released on any of Springsteen's studio albums, in concert beginning with his Darkness Tour Springsteen would often perform the song with his own lyrics. The song was first performed live at a Patti Smith concert at CBGB's in New York City on December 30, 1977, with Springsteen joining on vocals and guitar. The only two commercially released recordings of a Springsteen version of the song were in the 1986 box set Live/1975–85, where Smith was listed as co-writer; and the 2010 compilation album The Promise (using the original recording from the Darkness on the Edge of Town sessions, but using Smith's lyrics).
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