"Cover Me" is a song written and performed by American rock singer Bruce Springsteen. It was the second single released from his 1984 album Born in the U.S.A. Springsteen wrote the song for Donna Summer. However, his manager, Jon Landau, decided the song had hit potential, and so he kept it for the upcoming Springsteen album. It has been certified Gold in the US.

Background and recording The song was first recorded on January 25, 1982 at the Hit Factory in New York City, as a demo version with the E Street Band, during sessions where Springsteen was doing recording for Gary U.S. Bonds' On the Line. Jon Landau's friend David Geffen had asked whether Springsteen could compose a song for Donna Summer (newly signed to Geffen Records), and Springsteen had written "Cover Me". However, Landau felt Springsteen's composition was too good to give away. Although Springsteen did not have a high opinion of the song at the time, he agreed to write and record another demo for Summer, resulting in "Protection". The singer re-recorded "Cover Me" on May 12 at the Power Station, also in New York City, for the version that would later appear on Born in the U.S.A.; he did nine takes. In the couple of years leading up to Born in the U.S.A.'s release, Springsteen recorded about 70 songs as the pool of tracks considered for the album.

Release The song peaked at No. 10 on the Cashbox Top 100 and No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in October 1984. It was the second of a record-tying seven Top 10 hit singles to be released from a single album. No music video was made for the song making this and "I'm Goin' Down" as the only singles from the album not to have music videos.

Cash Box called the song "a driving, emotional display of classic Boss."

Remixes Continuing the club play goal started with "Dancing in the Dark", Arthur Baker created the 12-inch "Undercover Mix" of "Cover Me". This was a large-scale transformation: a new bass line was cut, an unused backing vocal by industry legend Jocelyn Brown was restored, and reggae and dub elements were introduced. It was released on October 15, 1984.

As with the previous effort, the result displeased some of Springsteen's more strait-laced fans, but did gain actual club play: the remix went to number 11 on Billboard's Hot Dance/Disco chart.

Track listings

7-inch single "Cover Me" – 3:26 "Jersey Girl" – 6:15 with an edited spoken introduction, or at 6:10 without a spoken introduction.

The B-side of the single, "Jersey Girl", was a live performance of a Tom Waits song, recorded on July 9, 1981, at Meadowlands Arena. Springsteen had introduced the song earlier in that special River Tour homecoming stand that opened the arena, slightly rewriting it to replace a Waits line about "whores on Eighth Avenue" and adding a verse that included "that little brat of yours and drop[ping] her off at your mom's." This same recording would later be released as the closing track of Live 1975-85.

Differing pressings of the single had different lengths of "Jersey Girl", sometimes dropping most of a spoken introduction of 0:31 seconds in length. The UK 12-inch single contains the full-length version with the complete spoken introduction at 6:36. Both the sleeve and label erroneously state a playing time of 5:50.

12-inch single "Cover Me" (Undercover Mix) – 6:09 "Cover Me" (Dub 1) – 4:02 "Cover Me" (Radio Mix) – 3:46 "Cover Me" (Dub 2) – 4:15

CD single (1988) "Cover Me" – 3:26 "Pink Cadillac" – 3:33

Live performance history

Springsteen was unsure of how to play "Cover Me" in concert, and initially it appeared irregularly in the 1984–1985 Born in the U.S.A. Tour. Then, inspired by Arthur Baker's remix, he rearranged it to open and close with a quiet, ominous, extended, echoing segment as new E Street backup singer Patti Scialfa wailed a snippet of Martha & the Vandellas' "Nowhere to Run" (in her one spotlight role of the show) while her future husband reverbed "Cuh ... vuh ... me-ee-ee", after which the song ramped up into showcase guitar work for Springsteen and Nils Lofgren. "Cover Me" thus became a featured song on the tour, often opening the second set; such a performance was included on the 1986 Live 1975–85. "Cover Me" continued as a regular selection on the 1988 Tunnel of Love Express and Human Rights Now! Tours, and the 1992 leg of the "Other Band" Tour (now without Scialfa's part). After December 1992 it was dropped until Springsteen's first concert in Oslo on July 7, 2008. The song has turned up as a semi-regular on the Working On A Dream Tour, especially after Springsteen and the E Street Band began playing the entire Born in the U.S.A. album in New York and Philadelphia.

For his tours between 2002 and 2023, many of the set lists have been published on his official website, Brucespringsteen.net. Of these, all of the singer's performances of the song are listed in the table below.

+ 2002–2017 performances of "Cover Me" Tour or special performance Year Location and date # of published + performances The Rising Tour2002N/A0/45 (0%)2003N/A0/75 (0%)Devils & Dust Tour2005N/A0/72 (0%)Bruce Springsteen with the Seeger Sessions Band Tour2006N/A0/27 (0%)Magic Tour2007N/A0/40 (0%)2008 Oslo – July 7St. Louis – August 232/64 (3.1%)Working on a Dream Tour2009East Rutherford – May 23Tampere – June 2Bergen – June 10Vienna – July 5Dublin – July 11Glasgow – July 14Fort Lauderdale – September 13Chicago – September 20East Rutherford – October 3*East Rutherford – October 9*Philadelphia – October 20*11/85 (12.9%)Wrecking Ball World Tour2012Bergen – July 23Gothenburg – July 27East Rutherford – September 22Rochester – October 31State College – November 1Kansas City – November 17Vancouver – November 26Oakland – November 308/91 (8.8%)2013Sydney – March 20Oslo – April 30Stockholm – May 11*Munich – May 26*Milan – June 3*Paris – June 29*London – June 30*Kilkenny – July 27*Buenos Aires – September 14Rio de Janeiro – September 21*10/47 (21.3%)High Hopes Tour2014Adelaide – February 12Melbourne – February 15*Auckland – March 1*Dallas – April 64/34 (11.8%)Saturday Night Live2015N/A0/1 (0%)The River Tour2016Chicago – January 19Hartford – February 10Columbus – April 12Lisbon – May 19Madrid – May 21Werchter – July 96/72 (8.3%)2017Perth – January 27Melbourne – February 42/14 (14.2%)2023 Tour2023N/A0/66 (0%)Total43/667 (5.9%)*Indicates that Springsteen performed the entire Born in the U.S.A. album at this concert.

Personnel According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon:

Bruce Springsteen – vocals, guitars Roy Bittan – piano Clarence Clemons – maracas Danny Federici – organ Garry Tallent – bass Max Weinberg – drums Richie Rosenberg – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1984)PeakpositionAustralia (Kent Music Report)17Canada (RPM)12Canada (CHUM)10Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)13France (IFOP)84Quebec (ADISQ)28US Hot Dance/Disco (Billboard)11US Cash Box Top 100. Cash Box magazine.10

Chart (1985)PeakpositionEurope (Eurochart Hot 100)52

Year-end charts Chart (1984)RankCanada (RPM)94US Billboard Hot 10067US Cash Box Top 100. Cash Box magazine.80

Certifications

Notes

Footnotes

References