Patti Smith - "Because the Night" (the song remains the same)

The final entry in my recent trilogy of autobiographies is Patti Smith's 2010 book "Just Kids" (the other two were Chrissie Hynde's "Reckless" and Kim Gordon's "Girl in a Band").   In "Just Kids", Smith lovingly details her tumultuous relationship with the late Robert Mapplethrope as they find themselves and their voices in the late 60s / early 70s Manhattan bohemian world of Max's Kansas City, The Factory, Hotel Chelsea, and CBGB.

It's an informative and entertaining book, and Smith is an engaging story teller.  Of course I knew a bit about Patti Smith -- everyone with even a passing interest in punk knows of her.  But she was less contemporary for me than Chrissie Hynde or Kim Gordon, so I learned a great deal about her early life, career, and contributions.  For example, I was unaware of her lyrical contributions to Blue Öyster Cult, via her relationship to BOC's keyboardist Allen Lanier, and  I also did not know of her brief relationship with the recently departed Sam Sheppard (see Patti's eulogy in the New Yorker), which culminated in the semi-autobiographical play "Cowboy Mouth" (which would later inspire a band of the same name).  And while it's only briefly mentioned in this book, I also did not know that she later married Fred Smith of MC5. 

But despite the many positive aspects of "Just Kids", it fails in one critical area: Patti can't rehabilitate Mapplethorpe.  Occasionally I see him as the Byronic hero that she sees, but mostly he comes off as selfish and cruel. Julia Felsenthal, in her article "Patti Smith, Where's Your Critical Distance?", quotes Tom Carson's New York Times book review:

Peculiarly or not, the one limitation of "Just Kids" is that Mapplethorpe himself, despite Smith’s valiant efforts, doesn’t come off as appealingly as she hopes he will. When he isn’t candidly on the make - "Hustler-hustler-hustler. I guess that’s what I’m about," he tells her - his pretension and self-romanticizing can be tiresome.

On the other hand, perhaps the discomfort Carson, Felsenthal, and I feel is because late 60s / early 70s Patti isn't yet the iconic, feminist badass that we demand of her.  Maybe it's simply disappointing to learn they were "just kids".

I do get the impression that without Robert's extensive encouragement and support, Patti would have never pursued a musical career.  An unkind reading might be that he directed her then unfocused artistic energy into an area that would not compete with him (she found success well before he did); or perhaps he just legitimately assessed the locus of her true talent.

I could choose to highlight some of her early work, like "Horses" or "Piss Factory", but instead I'll highlight her biggest hit, 1978's "Because the Night", from her "Easter" LP.  It was partially written by Bruce Springsteen, recorded but unfinished during the "Darkness on the Edge of Town" sessions, and based on Bruce and Patti sharing the same studio and studio engineer, "Because the Night" was given to Patti for her to record.   

This song is interesting me because it's only partially a cover -- in addition to releasing it first, Patti reworked the lyrics significantly from Bruce's version, to the point where her version is considered canonical, with Bruce even occasionally performing in concert Patti's version.   In the image below, Patti's lyrics are on the left and Bruce's original lyrics (as released on his "Live/1975-85" LP) on the right. 

This is one of the few times you can say "boy, someone really improved on Bruce's version". 

Patti Smith - "Because the Night", live 1978, live 2002, Patti explains the story behind the song
Bruce Springsteen - "Because the Night" (live 1985?), live 1978.
U2, Bruce, Patti: "Because the Night"

Bonus cover: 10,000 Maniacs - "Because the Night"