Peak
9
Weeks
20
Score
3,210
Chart Year
1994
The accompanying music video for the song, directed by Jonathan Demme and his nephew Ted Demme in December 1993, begins by showing Springsteen walking along desolate city streets, followed by a bustling park and schoolyard, interspersed with footage from the film. After a quick shot of Rittenhouse Square, it ends with Springsteen walking along the Delaware River, with the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in the background. Tom Hanks is also visible as the lead character he plays in the film, looking on as Bruce begins the final verse. One newspaper review called it "the saddest track cut this decade".[8] The vocal track for the video was recorded live with a hidden microphone, to a pre-recorded instrumental track. This technique, appropriate for emotionally intense songs for which conventional video lip-syncing would seem especially false, was used by John Mellencamp in part on his 1985 "Rain on the Scarecrow" video, and by Springsteen, in his 1987 "Brilliant Disguise" video, singing the song directly into the camera as he sits on the edge of his chair on a Sandy Hook, New Jersey sound stage.
Director Jonathan Demme used this to open his movie Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks as a lawyer dying of AIDS. Demme met Springsteen in 1985 on the video shoot for "Sun City," but had not seen him since. Demme first cut the title sequence of Philadelphia to "Southern Man" and asked Neil Young to write a song like it for the movie. Young gave him "Philadelphia," which he used at the end of the film. Still needing a song for the open, he called Springsteen. Demme asked Springsteen for a rock song to open his movie. Bruce started writing it based on lyrics he had previously written about the death of one of his friends, but it did not work over a rock beat. Springsteen sent what he came up with to Demme, considering it an unfinished demo. Demme loved it and felt it was perfect for his movie just as it was. Springsteen recorded this in his home studio in New Jersey, where he did the entire Nebraska album. This was the first of five previously unreleased songs included on Springsteen's 1995 Greatest Hits album. In the UK, this is Springsteen's highest-charting hit. This won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1994, beating out Neil Young's "Philadelphia," which was also written for the movie. Tom Hanks won his first Best Actor Oscar for his role in the movie. Demme wanted people not familiar with AIDS issues to see his film. He felt Springsteen and Young would bring an audience that would not ordinarily see a movie about a gay man dying of AIDS. The movie and the song did a great deal to increase AIDS awareness and take some of the stigma off the disease. This won Grammys for Song of the Year, Best Rock Song, Best Male Vocal, and Best Song Written For a Motion Picture or Television. Springsteen opened the show in 1995 performing this. This was the first song Springsteen wrote specifically for a movie. He gave Paul Schrader "Light Of Day" for the 1987 movie, but did not write it specifically for him. Demme directed Springsteen's video for "Murder Incorporated" in 1995. At the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, Tom Hanks and Bruce Springsteen took the stage and discussed this song. Springsteen explained that Jonathan Demme, who died a few days before the festival, sent him the opening sequence of the film to give him a visual. "Eventually, I came up with that tiny little beat and I figured it wasn't what he wanted, but I sent it to him anyway," Springsteen said. Tom Hanks added: "If you ever want to have a great moment in a motion picture, walk out a door and make sure they just put up a Bruce Springsteen song."
I was bruised and battered I couldn't tell what I felt I was unrecognizable to myself Saw my reflection in a window And didn't know my own face Oh brother are you gonna leave me wastin' away On the streets of Philadelphia? I walked the avenue, 'til my legs felt like stone I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone At night I could hear the blood in my veins Just as black and whispering as the rain On the streets of Philadelphia Ain't no angel gonna greet me It's just you and I my friend And my clothes don't fit me no more, I walk Thousand miles just to slip this skin Night has fallen, I'm lyin' awake I can feel myself fading away So receive me brother with your faithless kiss Or will we leave each other alone like this On the streets of Philadelphia?
| Week | Chart Date | Position | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Feb 19, 1994 | 65 | 61 |
| 2 | Feb 26, 1994 | 54 | 72 |
| 3 | Mar 5, 1994 | 34 | 92 |
| 4 | Mar 12, 1994 | 20 | 106 |
| 5 | Mar 19, 1994 | 15 | 111 |
| 6 | Mar 26, 1994 | 15 | 111 |
| 7 | Apr 2, 1994 | 14 | 112 |
| 8 | Apr 9, 1994 | 10 | 116 |
| 9 | Apr 16, 1994 | 10 | 116 |
| 10 | Apr 23, 1994 | 9 | 117 |
| 11 | Apr 30, 1994 | 14 | 112 |
| 12 | May 7, 1994 | 14 | 112 |
| 13 | May 14, 1994 | 17 | 109 |
| 14 | May 21, 1994 | 17 | 109 |
| 15 | May 28, 1994 | 24 | 102 |
| 16 | Jun 4, 1994 | 29 | 97 |
| 17 | Jun 11, 1994 | 36 | 90 |
| 18 | Jun 18, 1994 | 51 | 75 |
| 19 | Jun 25, 1994 | 58 | 68 |
| 20 | Jul 2, 1994 | 66 | 60 |