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Streets of Philadelphia

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"Streets of Philadelphia"
Song
B-side"If I Should Fall Behind"

"Streets of Philadelphia" is an Academy Award-winning song written and performed by American singer Bruce Springsteen for the 1993 film Philadelphia. It is a slow, mournful, but melodic dirge about life with AIDS[citation needed], set against synthesizers and a drum machine.

History

In early 1993, Philadelphia director Jonathan Demme asked Springsteen to write a song for the in-progress film, and in June 1993, after the conclusion of the "Other Band" Tour, Springsteen did so. It was recorded with Springsteen supplying almost all of the instrumentation, with bass and background vocals from "Other Band" member Tommy Simms. Additional saxophone and vocal parts by Ornette Coleman and "Little" Jimmy Scott were recorded but never used.

Released in early 1994 as the main single from the film's original soundtrack, it became a huge success for Springsteen all over Europe and North America.

The song would achieve greater popularity in Europe than it would in the United States. While it peaked at #9 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it would become a number-one single in Germany and France. It would also peak at #2 in the United Kingdom, becoming Springsteen's highest charting hit in that country. It also peaked at #2 in Australia. "Streets of Philadelphia" ranks as his most recent top ten hit.

The song was also included in the album All Time Greatest Movie Songs, released by Sony in 1999.

Music video

The music video for the song, directed by Jonathan Demme and his nephew Ted Demme, begins by showing Springsteen walking along desolate city streets, followed by a bustling park and schoolyard, interspersed with footage from the film. After a quick shot of Rittenhouse Park, it ends with Springsteen walking along the Delaware River, with the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in the background. Tom Hanks is also visible as the lead character he plays in the film, looking on as Bruce begins the final verse.

The vocal track for the video was re-recorded live during the shooting, using a hidden microphone, to a prerecorded instrumental track. This was a technique, appropriate for emotionally intense songs for which conventional video lip-syncing would seem especially false, that John Mellencamp pioneered in his 1985 "Rain on the Scarecrow" video, and that Springsteen himself had used on his 1987 "Brilliant Disguise" video. Springsteen would also go on to use the same technique in his "Lonesome Day" video in 2002.

Track listings

  1. "Streets of Philadelphia" – 3:51
  2. "If I Should Fall Behind" – 4:43
  1. "Streets of Philadelphia" – 3:51
  2. "If I Should Fall Behind" – 4:43
  3. "Growin' Up" – 3:13
  4. "The Big Muddy" – 4:11

The B-sides were selected from the previous year's live album In Concert/MTV Plugged.

Chart performance

Chart Peak
position
Austria Singles Chart [1] 1 (4 weeks)
Australia ARIA Singles Chart [2] 4
German Singles Chart [3] 1 (5 weeks)
France Singles Chart [4] 1 (5 weeks)
Norway Singles Chart [5] 1 (6 weeks)
Sweden Singles Chart [6] 3
Switzerland Singles Chart [7] 2
UK Singles Chart 2
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 [8] 9
U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary 3
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 25
Irish Singles Chart 1

Awards won

Academy Awards

Grammy Awards

MTV Video Music Awards

Live performance history

Because of the song's sterling achievements in the awards world, Springsteen played the song live in three high-visibility, prime-time awards show broadcasts: at the 66th Academy Awards in March 1994, at the MTV Video Music Awards in September 1994, and at the Grammy Awards of 1995 in March 1995. Between this, Philadelphia's good box office, and the single being a top 10 pop hit, "Streets of Philadelphia" became one of Springsteen's best-known songs to the general music audience.

Nonetheless, Springsteen went on to perform the song only sparingly in his own concerts. In solo guitar form and missing the song's trademark synthesizers-and-drums feel, it was performed semi-regularly on the solo and stark 1995-1997 Ghost of Tom Joad Tour. After that, the song became a rarity, only appearing a dozen times on the 1999-2000 E Street Band Reunion Tour, and, as of September 2006, only a couple of times across the three tours after that.

Covers

The song has been covered live by Melissa Etheridge, David Gray, and Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and also on CD by Marah, Liv Kristine, Molly Johnson, and I Muvrini with Anggun.

Philadelphia rappers, Cassidy & the Larsiny Family recently did a cover of this song on the "Put Ya L In The Sky" Mix Tape, in an effort to stop crime in the city.

See also


References

  1. ^ "Streets of Philadelphia" Austrian singles chart history.
  2. ^ "Streets of Philadelphia" Australian singles chart history.
  3. ^ "Streets of Philadelphia" No-1-Charts-Archiv
  4. ^ "Streets of Philadelphia" French singles chart history.
  5. ^ "Streets of Philadelphia" Norwegian singles chart history.
  6. ^ "Streets of Philadelphia" Swedish singles chart history.
  7. ^ "Streets of Philadelphia" Swiss singles chart history.
  8. ^ Bruce Springsteen chart history at Billboard.com.
Preceded by Academy Award for Best Original Song
1993 		Succeeded by
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