Born to Be Wild
| "Born to Be Wild" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
One of side-A labels of the US single | ||||
| Single by Steppenwolf | ||||
| from the album Steppenwolf | ||||
| B-side | "Everybody's Next One" | |||
| Released | May 9, 1968 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length |
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| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | Mars Bonfire | |||
| Producer(s) | Gabriel Mekler | |||
| Steppenwolf singles chronology | ||||
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| Official audio | ||||
| "Born To Be Wild" on YouTube | ||||
"Born to Be Wild" is a song written by Mars Bonfire and first released as a single by Steppenwolf. Although the lyrics do not specifically mention motorcycles, the song is often invoked in both popular and counterculture to denote a biker appearance or attitude since being featured in the 1969 film Easy Rider. Sometimes, "Born to Be Wild" is 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, but rather a motorcycle).