![Bruce Springsteen’s Handwritten ‘Born to Run’ Lyrics Go to Auction](http://townsquare.media/site/295/files/2013/11/springsteenlyric.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Bruce Springsteen’s Handwritten ‘Born to Run’ Lyrics Go to Auction
Is there a Bruce Springsteen fan on your holiday shopping list? We have the perfect item ... if you have a few thousand dollars burning a hole in your pocket, that is.
Sotheby's announced this week that a handwritten manuscript for Springsteen's classic 'Born to Run' is going to auction on Dec. 5 as part of a sale of fine books and manuscripts. The pre-sale estimate of the lyrics is between $70,000 to $100,000.
The song, which Springsteen wrote in 1974, remains one of his most beloved numbers. According to Sotheby's website, the document is owned by Mike Appel, Springsteen's former manager. The lyrics are written in blue ink on a standard 8½-by-11 sheet of notebook paper and include words and themes that ended up in the song, as well as some that didn't.
Sotheby's told the Boston Herald, "Although Springsteen is known to have an intensive drafting process, few manuscripts of 'Born to Run' are available. The present example being one of only two identified that include the most famous lines in the song."
Springsteen shed some light on the origin of the song in a press release: "One day I was playing my guitar on the edge of the bed, working on some song ideas and the words 'born to run' came to me. At first I thought it was the name of a movie or something I'd seen on a car spinning around the circuit. I liked the phrase because it suggested a cinematic drama that I thought would work with the music that I'd been hearing in my head."
More From Kool 96.5
![Springsteen and Mellencamp Honor Jerry Lee Lewis at Rock Hall](http://townsquare.media/site/295/files/2022/11/attachment-mellencamp-springsteen-hof.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Listen to Bruce Springsteen’s Cover of Commodores’ ‘Nightshift’](http://townsquare.media/site/295/files/2022/10/attachment-Springsteen-video.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Dave Grohl Returns to the Stage With Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen](http://townsquare.media/site/295/files/2022/06/attachment-GettyImages-1405130052.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Watch Bruce Springsteen Guest With Coldplay](http://townsquare.media/site/295/files/2022/06/attachment-spingsteen.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Bruce Springsteen’s DWI Charges Dismissed, Pays $450 Fine](http://townsquare.media/site/366/files/2021/02/Bruce-Springsteen.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Bruce Springsteen Releases Full ‘Letter to You’ Trailer](http://townsquare.media/site/295/files/2020/10/spginsteen.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![‘Blinded by the Light’ Was Made for One Person: Bruce Springsteen](http://townsquare.media/site/295/files/2019/08/Blinded.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Why Bruce Springsteen Let ‘Blinded by the Light’ Use His Music](http://townsquare.media/site/295/files/2019/07/spingteen.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Bruce Springsteen Directorial Debut, ‘Western Stars,’ Premieres This Fall](http://townsquare.media/site/442/files/2018/11/springsteen-on-broadway-netflix.jpg?w=980&q=75)