Written at 7½ West End Court in Long Branch, New Jersey in early 1974, the song was Bruce Springsteen's last-ditch effort to make it big. The lyrics to the song are appropriately epic for his all-or-nothing shot at the stars, yet they remain rooted in the universal desperation of adolescence: ‘Will you walk with me out on the wire, 'cause baby I'm just a scared and lonely rider… We gotta get out while we're young, 'cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run.’ Rolling Stone magazine placed it at #21 in the list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.