Video hit Steppenwolf

Steppenwolf - Born to be wild (1969)

Born to Be Wild is a rock song written by Mars Bonfire. It is often used in popular culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude. It is sometimes described as the first heavy metal song, and the second verse lyric "heavy metal thunder" marks the first use of this term in rock music (although not as a description of a musical style).

However, the claim may be false as bands such as Blue Cheer had recorded songs with a heavier rock sound while "Born to Be Wild" incorporated elements of classic rock music.

"Born to be Wild" was the band's third single off their debut album and became their most successful single, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine placed "Born to be Wild" at No. 129 on the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. In 2009, it was named the 53rd best hard rock song of all time by VH1.

The song was initially released in 1968, but it was subsequently included in many compilation albums and soundtracks. The first of these was the soundtrack for the movie Easy Rider, released in 1969. Unlike the album or single version, the song on this soundtrack is accompanied by the sounds of motorcycles as an introduction. (Another Steppenwolf song from their first album, "The Pusher", was also used in the film.) When the movie was in production, Born to Be Wild was used simply as a placeholder, since Peter Fonda had wanted Crosby, Stills and Nash to do the movie's soundtrack. Eventually, it became clear that the song was well suited for the movie.

Other movies that have used the Steppenwolf version of Born to Be Wild include Problem Child, Coming Home, One Crazy Summer, The Serial, Opportunity Knocks, Dr. Dolittle 2, Speechless, Armed and Dangerous, Mr Bean's Holiday, Wild America, and many others.

"Born to Be Wild" has been used in several movies, trailers, TV shows and advertisings, including:

The Miami Vice episode "The Great McCarthy"

The Married... with Children episode "Have You Driven a Ford Lately?"

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show episode "Toad Warriors"

Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie (some TV spots only)

A Bug's Life (TV spots only)

Rugrats Go Wild

Six Feet Under

Dudley Do-Right

The NeverEnding Story III (parody)

Barnyard (some advertisements only)

Borat

Commercial for the 2007 Hess Monster Truck

Van Pires: The Next Generation (Theme Song)

FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman

Herbie: Fully Loaded

Blue Cross/Blue Shield (2011 TV commercial)

Rise of the Guardians (teaser trailer)

Supernatural (Season 7 finale)

Rock n' Roll Racing, a Sega Mega Drive game from 1993.

Recess: School's Out

Stuart Little 2 (trailer and TV spots only)

Easy Rider

Artists that covered this song include: Etta James, Adam Lambert, Link Wray, The Mooney Suzuki, Slade, Rose Tattoo, Riot, The Cult, INXS, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Tomoyasu Hotei, Raven with Udo Dirkschneider, Ozzy Osbourne and Miss Piggy, Slayer, X Japan, Blue Öyster Cult, Status Quo, Kirka, Fanfare Ciocărlia, Lizzy Borden, Tanja Dexters, The Residents, Hampton String Quartet, Krokus, Wilson Pickett, Kuroyume, Hinder, Juliet Simms with Cee Lo Green, and Puppet Cream.

The lyrics:

Get your motor runnin'

Head out on the highway

Looking for adventure

In whatever comes our way

Yeah, darlin'

Gonna make it happen

Take the world in a love embrace

Fire all of your guns at once

And explode into space

I like smoke and lightnin'

Heavy metal thunder

Racing in the wind

And the feeling that I'm under

Yeah, darlin'

Gonna make it happen

Take the world in a love embrace

Fire all of your guns at once

And explode into space

Like a true nature child

We were born

Born to be wild

We can climbed so high

I never wanna die

Born to be wild

Born to be wild

Get your motor runnin'

Head out on the highway

Looking for adventure

In whatever comes our way

Yeah, darlin'

Gonna make it happen

Take the world in a love embrace

Fire all of your guns at once

And explode into space

Like a true nature child

We were born

Born to be wild

We can climbed so high

I never wanna die

Born to be wild

Born to be wild