Springsteen released his first two albums in 1973 before issuing Born To Run in 1975. And nobody wants or deserves to be homeless.' But I woke up one morning and realized that I wanted a home. And at the time I thought that was me and maybe it was. This patter can be traced to a Decembenefit concert for homeless children at Madison Square Garden, where Springsteen introduced the song by saying: 'It's about a boy and a girl that thought they wanted to run and keep running and never stop. It's kept me good company on my search, and I hope it keeps you good company on yours.' So, this is a song about two people trying to find their way home. So, I guess that guy and that girl out there were looking for connection, and I guess that's what I'm doing here. That was a nice, romantic idea, but I realized after I put all those people in all those cars, I was going to have to figure out someplace for them to go, and I realized in the end that individual freedom, when it's not connected to some sort of community, can be pretty meaningless. When I wrote this song, I was writing about a guy and a girl that wanted to run and keep on running, never come back. When I think back, it surprises me how much I knew about what I wanted, because the questions I ask myself in this song, it seems I've been trying to find the answers to them ever since. When I wrote it, I was 24 years old, sitting in my bedroom in Long Branch, New Jersey.

As I've sung it, it seems to have been able to open up and let the time in. 'This is a song that has changed a lot over the years. He would play it as the first number in his first encore, emerging with an acoustic guitar and introducing the song by saying something along these lines: Springsteen performed a solo, slowed-down, acoustic version on his 1988 Tunnel of Love Express tour, changing the lyrics so the couple in the song were now married.

Springsteen born to run