"57 Channels (And Nothin' On)" is a song written and performed by American musician

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

, appearing on his album ''

Human Touch ''Human Touch'' is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. The album was released on March 27, 1992, the same day as ''Lucky Town''. It was the more popular of the two, peaking at number two on the US Billboard 2 ...

'', released in 1992. The song was released as a single, charting in the top 100 in various countries. A video for the song was also released. The title may be a reference to

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

, which carries more channels than

terrestrial television Terrestrial television, or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the content is signal transmission, transmitted via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV rece ...

Music video

The accompanying music video illustrates the song's narrative, culminating in a recreation of

Ant Farm A formicarium (: formicaria or formicariums) or ant farm is a vivarium which is designed primarily for the study of ant colonies and how ants behave and for the enjoyment of ants as pets. Those who study ant behavior are known as myrmecologists ...

's infamous 1975 "Media Burn" stunt, wherein a speeding car crashes through a pyramid of television sets. The same art collective was also responsible for

Cadillac Ranch ''Cadillac Ranch'' is a public art installation and sculpture in Amarillo, Texas, US. It was created in 1974 by Chip Lord, Hudson Marquez and Doug Michels, who were a part of the art group Ant Farm (group), Ant Farm. The installation consist ...

, immortalized in the

song of the same name (from ''The River''). Springsteen also plays a

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

, which he also played in the recording. In a September 2014 post on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

discussing the video, Springsteen wrote, "Shot back in the quaint days of only 57 channels and no flat screen TVs, I have no idea what we were aiming for in this one outside of some vague sense of 'hipness' and an attempt at irony. Never my strong suit, it reads now to me as a break from our usual approach and kind of a playful misfire."

Personnel

According to authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon: *

– vocals, bass *

Jeff Porcaro Jeffrey Thomas Porcaro (April 1, 1954 – August 5, 1992) was an American drummer. He is best known for being the co-founder and drummer of the rock band Toto, but is also one of the most recorded session musicians in history, working on hundr ...

– drums, percussion *

Roy Bittan Roy J. Bittan (born July 2, 1949) is an American musician best known as a long-time member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Professor", Bittan joined the E Street Band in 1974. He plays the piano, organ, accordion and synth ...

– keyboards

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 1992 singles 1992 songs Bruce Springsteen songs Columbia Records singles Song recordings produced by Chuck Plotkin Song recordings produced by Jon Landau Songs about television Songs written by Bruce Springsteen