"Secret Garden" is a song by American musician

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...

. It was originally released as a single from his ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'' album on February 27, 1995, on

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

. Upon its initial release, it peaked at number 63 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. "Secret Garden" was re-released on April 11, 1997, through

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

as a two-track single, of which also featured a live version of " Thunder Road". (An EP was also released in 1995, featuring two versions of "Secret Garden" ("album" and "string"), live versions of "Murder Incorporated" and "Thunder Road" and the original version of "Pink Cadillac" from ''Greatest Hits''.) This re-issue returned the song to the Hot 100, where it peaked at number 19 and remains Springsteen's final top-20 hit in the United States to date.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Bruce Springsteen chart history The song gained much of its popularity after being featured on the soundtrack for the 1996 movie ''

Jerry Maguire ''Jerry Maguire'' is a 1996 American romantic comedy-drama sports film written, produced, and directed by Cameron Crowe; it stars Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., Renée Zellweger, and Regina King. Produced in part by James L. Brooks, it was ins ...

'' peaking at number 12 and number 15 on the

Adult Top 40 The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems ...

and

Top 40 Mainstream Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the Un ...

respectively. "Secret Garden" was also featured in the film ''

Night at the Roxbury ''A Night at the Roxbury'' is a 1998 American comedy film based on a recurring sketch on television's long-running ''Saturday Night Live'' called "The Roxbury Guys". ''Saturday Night Live'' regulars Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Molly Shannon, Mark ...

'' and the TV show ''

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and developed by McElhenney and Glenn Howerton that premiered on August 4, 2005 on FX and later FXX beginning with the ninth season in 2013. It stars Charlie ...

''. The song was also synced with producer

Gary Dell'Abate Gary Patrick Angelo Dell'Abate (born March 14, 1961), also known by the nickname Baba Booey, is an American radio producer who has been the executive producer of ''The Howard Stern Show'' since 1984. His autobiography, '' They Call Me Baba Booey'' ...

's 'Love Tape' to his ex-girlfriend on

The Howard Stern Show ''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...

. It was featured in the ''

Cold Case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or re ...

'' episode, "Ravaged", in 2005, and was featured along with 10 other Springsteen songs in the HBO miniseries ''

Show Me a Hero ''Show Me a Hero'' is a 2015 American miniseries based on the 1999 nonfiction book of the same name by former ''New York Times'' writer Lisa Belkin about Yonkers mayor Nick Wasicsko. Like the book, the miniseries details a white middle-class ne ...

.'' The song has been performed only a handful of times live. It was performed three times in 1995 in New York, and one time on the Reunion Tour in 2000. The song returned to the setlist once in 2013 when Springsteen performed it in the United Kingdom. After a three-year hiatus, Springsteen performed it twice in 2016 in New Jersey and Washington, D.C., and once in 2017 in Brisbane, Australia.

Critical reception

Steve Baltin from ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' praised the song, noting that it is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

that follows in the footsteps of the softer material from his ''

Human Touch ''Human Touch'' is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. The album was released on March 31, 1992, the same day as '' Lucky Town''. It was the more popular of the two, peaking at number two on the US ''Billboar ...

'' and ''

Lucky Town ''Lucky Town'' is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. The album was released on March 31, 1992, the same day as Springsteen's '' Human Touch'' album. ''Lucky Town'' peaked at number three on the ''Billboard'' ...

'' albums." He added that featuring the reunited

E Street Band The E Street Band is an American rock band, and has been musician Bruce Springsteen's primary backing band since 1972. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. For the bulk of Springsteen's recording and performing caree ...

, "it is one of the prettier melodics Springsteen has ever come up with. Meaning that with his recent

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success and the success of previous ballads (“

I’m On Fire "I'm on Fire" is a song written and performed by American rock performer Bruce Springsteen. Released in 1985, it was the fourth single from his album '' Born in the U.S.A.'' History "I'm on Fire" was first recorded in January 1982 during the f ...

”), this could be a monster hit. lt'd be hard to find a more deserving song than this one, as Springsteen once again puts the words and melody together to show why, despite the knocks he took in ’92, he remains alone at the top." In 1997, British magazine ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as '' Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music W ...

'' rated "Secret Garden" three out of five, describing it as a "melancholic track". They also added that "this keyboard-led, introspective love song is low key, sparse and touching."

Track listing

#"Secret Garden" – 4:29 #"Secret Garden - string version" – 4:38 #"Murder Incorporated - live version" – 5:50 #"Thunder Road - Live" – 5:29

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control Bruce Springsteen songs 1995 singles 1997 singles Songs written by Bruce Springsteen Columbia Records singles Sony Music singles 1995 songs