The tale is told that Springsteen donated the song to film director
Paul Schrader as loose payment for his having appropriated Schrader's working title for this film for the song "
Born in the U.S.A." The song was originally written for the
Born in the U.S.A. album, and recorded by Springsteen in 1983. That version remains unreleased. Springsteen subsequently featured "Light of Day" heavily in his own concerts; it showed up during his 1987
Jersey Shore club appearances, then served as the main set closer throughout his 1988
Tunnel of Love Express, 1992-1993
"Other Band", 1995 (six shows with
Joe Grushecky and the Houserockers in a band featuring Springsteen on lead guitar and occasional lead vocal) and 1999-2000
Reunion Tours. Two such performances were captured in the 1993
In Concert/MTV Plugged and 2000
Live in New York City videos and albums, but any particular rendering could be extended to arbitrary length via Springsteen raps, vamps, stage hijinks, and false endings. The song has rarely been performed since
The Rising Tour, where it only appeared one time — on the last day of the tour. It was played four times on the 2007-2008
Magic Tour and eleven times on the 2012-2013
Wrecking Ball World Tour. It made a more permanent return on the
High Hopes Tour in 2014, where it resumed its traditional position as set closer. It was performed a few times in 2015 by Springsteen and one time on
The River Tour 2016 with special guests Joe and Johnny Grushecky. On June 29, 2017 it was performed together again on the stage of the Canadian National Arts Center, for the public induction of Michael J. Fox in the Governor General's performing arts awards 2017. On March 31, 2024, the song opened Springsteen and the
E Street Band's show in
San Francisco on their
2023-2024 tour marking the first time Springsteen had performed it with the E Street Band since 2016. == References ==