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Patti Smith | Because the Night (1978)

"Because the Night" is a song written by Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith that was first released in 1978 as a single from the Patti Smith Group 1978 album, Easter. This version rose to No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as No. 5 in the United Kingdom, and helped propel sales of Easter to mainstream success.

The song has subsequently been covered by numerous artists, and at least two of these cover versions have been chart hits. A 1992 version of the song by Co.Ro was a hit in several countries in Europe and South America.


It reached No. 1 in Spain and the Top 10 in Belgium, France, Greece and Italy. The following year, a live acoustic version was recorded by 10,000 Maniacs for MTV Unplugged. This recording reached No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it the highest charting version of the song in the U.S.


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 Magazine ranked it No. 358 on "Top 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".


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