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“Born to Be Wild“ is a song written by Mars Bonfire and first performed by the band Steppenwolf. It is often invoked in both popular and counter culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude. It is most notably featured in the 1969 film Easy Rider. Sometimes, “Born to Be Wild“ is described as the first heavy metal song, and the second-verse lyric “heavy metal thunder“ marks the first use of this term in rock music (although not as a description of a musical style but rather a motorcycle). Mars Bonfire wrote “Born to Be Wild“ as a ballad. Bonfire was previously a member of the Sparrows, the predecessor band to Steppenwolf, and his brother was Steppenwolf's drummer. Although he initially offered the song to other bands — The Human Expression, for one — “Born to Be Wild“ was first recorded by Steppenwolf in a sped-up and rearranged version that AllMusic's Hal Horowitz described as “a roaring anthem of turbo-charged riff rock“ and “a timeless radio classic as well as a slice of '60s revolt that at once defines Steppenwolf's sound and provided them with their shot at AM immortality“. Remastered from the AP SACD of Steppenwolf's first album of the same name.
