# In 1977, Patti Smith was waiting for a phone call. By midnight, she’d written the lyrics to her biggest hit

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/in-1977-patti-smith-was-waiting-for-a-phone-call-by-midnight-shed-written-the-lyrics-to-her-biggest-hit/
- Published: 2026-10-22T22:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-22T22:17:18+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/in-1977-patti-smith-was-waiting-for-a-phone-call-by-midnight-shed-written-the-lyrics-to-her-biggest-hit/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- Patti Smith rewrote Springsteen’s “Because the Night” in 1977.
- She wrote the lyrics while waiting for Fred “Sonic” Smith to call.
- Her personal take helped turn the song into her biggest hit.

## Summary

Patti Smith rewrote Bruce Springsteen’s song “Because the Night” in 1977, turning his draft into the version that became her best-known hit. The story matters because it shows how Smith’s poetic voice and personal experience reshaped a song she had initially found unremarkable.

Smith was waiting for a weekly call from Fred “Sonic” Smith, her future husband, who lived in Detroit. While waiting, she listened to the song Jimmy Iovine had urged her to record and wrote new lyrics in one sitting; Fred called close to midnight, by which time she had finished them. The article says Springsteen had supplied the song’s chorus and musical structure, while Smith’s lyrics and urgent delivery made the recording her own.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.