"She's the One" is a song by

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 ...

. Frequently featured in Springsteen and E Street Band concert performances, it first appeared on the '' Born to Run'' album in 1975. It was also released as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

to Springsteen's " Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" single.

Music and lyrics

"She's the One" was one of the songs that Springsteen wrote before beginning to record the ''Born to Run'' album, along with "Born to Run", " Thunder Road" and " Jungleland", although originally he was not sure whether to include it on the album. Several versions of the song were recorded for ''Born to Run'' between April and June 1975, and the June 1975 version recorded at 914 Sound Studios in Blauvelt, New York is the one that was officially released. The topic of the song is the rock staple of an intensely attractive, but cold-hearted woman, who causes massive emotional turmoil for her lover. Although the singer knows the woman is a liar, he wants to believe her. The lyrics reflect both the joys and yearnings of summer nights. Like other songs on ''Born to Run'', "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and "

Night Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of ...

", the story of the relationship is told in a flashback. Musically, it has a

staccato Staccato (; Italian for "detached") is a form of Articulation (music), musical articulation. In modern notation, it signifies a note of shortened duration, separated from the note that may follow by silence. It has been described by theorists and ...

beat and a rhythm reminiscent of the Bo Diddley beat. As if to emphasize the Diddley-like riff, Springsteen has sometimes led into "She's the One" in concert with a Diddley song — either "

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

" or "Mona". The percussive piano sound and the rhythms that are reminiscent of some

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...

songs sound like an homage to older rock 'n' roll songs. "She's the One" has connections with other Springsteen songs. The line from "

Backstreets "Backstreets" is a song by Bruce Springsteen from the album ''Born to Run'', which was released in 1975. In the original vinyl release, it concludes side one of the record. Structure "Backstreets" begins with a minute-long instrumental introduc ...

", "I hated you when you went away" was originally a line in "She's the One". "She's the One" includes references to French cream and

French kiss A French kiss, also known as cataglottism or a tongue kiss, is an amorous kiss in which the participants' tongues extend to touch each other's lips or tongue. A kiss with the tongue stimulates the partner's lips, tongue and mouth, which are sens ...

es, which were originally included in an early Springsteen song, "Santa Ana". Springsteen has claimed that he wrote the song primarily because he wanted to hear

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

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

Clarence Clemons Clarence Anicholas Clemons Jr. (January 11, 1942 – June 18, 2011), also known as The Big Man, was an American saxophonist. From 1972 until his death in 2011, he was the saxophonist for Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band. Clemons rel ...

play its sax solo, and after he wrote the melody he then changed his mind.

Live performances

The song has become very popular live, and has been played 565 times as of 2023. Some fans have claimed that "She's the One" and " Born to Run" were first played at a concert where Springsteen opened for

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

at Harvard Square Theater in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

on May 9, 1974. This has never been confirmed, and bootlegs of the concert do not contain either of these songs. The first confirmed live performance of the song was on October 4, 1974.

Critical reception

In a contemporary review,

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

of ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'' said that "She's the One" "fails the memory of

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

's innocent grandeur".

Pitchfork Media ''Pitchfork'' (formerly ''Pitchfork Media'') is an American online music magazine founded in 1996 by Ryan Schreiber in Minneapolis. It originally covered Alternative rock, alternative and independent music, and expanded to cover genres includin ...

's Mark Richardson felt that it is "powerful and catchy", but because "Springsteen at this point didn't know much about women or relationships", "She's the One" does not successfully portray its character. On the other hand, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine later ranked it number 63 on its list of the 100 greatest Bruce Springsteen songs of all time.

Personnel

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

– vocals, guitar *

Garry Tallent Garry Wayne Tallent (born October 27, 1949), sometimes billed as Garry W. Tallent, is an American musician and record producer, best known for being the bass player and a founding member of the E Street Band, Bruce Springsteen's primary backing ...

– bass *

Max Weinberg Max Weinberg (born April 13, 1951) is an American drummer and television personality, most widely known as the longtime drummer for Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and as the bandleader for Conan O'Brien on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' an ...

– drums *

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 ...

– piano, harpsichord, organ *

– saxophone *Unknown musicians – backing vocals

References

External links

Lyrics at official Springsteen site
{{Authority control 1975 songs Bruce Springsteen songs Songs written by Bruce Springsteen Song recordings produced by Jon Landau Song recordings produced by Bruce Springsteen Song recordings with Wall of Sound arrangements