I'm a big Bruce Springsteen fan—his song "The River" (1980) is one of my all-time favorites. He's just so talented, and on top of that, he seems like a genuinely good person. If you're also a Springsteen fan, you'll enjoy this oldie-but-goodie Springsteen parody from Sesame Street. The song is called "Born to Add," and appears on an album of the same name that was released in 1983. It was a collection of rock and roll parody songs mostly featuring obscure Sesame Street Characters (along with some old favorites like Bert and Cookie Monster).
According to the Muppet Fandom Wiki, in 1984 the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children, but, alas, the read-along album from E.T. (narrated by Michael Jackson) won that year.
The Sesame Street-version of the Springsteen classic "Born to Run" is performed by the Sesame Street characters Bruce Stringbean, Clarice, and the S Street Band. Christopher Cerf, who voiced Bruce Stringbean, does a terrific job imitating The Boss. The AV Club has a nice review of the album and the song. Here's an excerpt:
Sung by Sesame Street pop specialist Christopher Cerf, "Born To Add" isn't a straight cover of "Born To Run," but that's actually one of its strengths. Instead, it's a loose melody drawing from several songs from Born To Run, notably "Jungleland"—clearly the inspiration for the"Born To Add" opening piano line—and "Born To Run" itself, synthesizing their elements into something vague but instantly recognizable as "a Springsteen song." "Born To Add" is energetic, upbeat, and catchy, and its two-minute, 42-second running time flies by, propelled by piano, xylophone, and a driving drumbeat. Does that two-minute, 42-second running time include a saxophone solo? Of course it does.
The lyrics are also vintage Springsteen, a tale of misunderstood youth ("There's a lot of us adders on the Jersey Shore / Out here it's the thing to be") expressing themselves by adding together everything they can find. But the Man doesn't like this display of freedom and fundamental math skills ("Now some say that screaming one plus one all night / Means we're thoughtless, cruel, and bad"). So the cops get involved ("One and two and three police persons spring out of the shadows / Down the corner comes one more"), but our proud Jersey adders just add them up too ("And we scream into that city night, three plus one makes four! / Well, they seem to think we're disturbing the peace / But we won't let 'em make us sad / 'Cause kids like you and me baby, we were born to add").
It's definitely ridiculous. It's also incredibly silly. It also makes me exceedingly happy. In other words, it's just perfect! I hope you enjoy!
