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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spin Control

For the record: Don’t be blinded by the light, or the cover

An old city editor once told me to pay attention to calls and letters because for every reader who put pen to paper or picked up the phone, 100 others probably hold similar views but didn’t bother. The ratio may be somewhat less with the ease of email, and some internet users’ penchant for telling others how wrong they are. But enough people called or wrote last week to take issue with part of the item on eclipse traffic that it deserves revisiting.

The item quoted “Blinded by the Light”, which could happen if you look too long at the sun Monday. It attributed the lyrics to Bruce Springsteen. Readers called or wrote to say it was written by Manfred Mann (or in one case, Freddie Mercury).

Thanks for writing, but the song was written and first recorded by Springsteen for the “Welcome to Asbury Park” album. Manfred Mann changed some of the words, had a Number One hit and probably made more money off it. But did not write the song. 

So again, don’t look into the sights of the sun on Monday. It’s not where the fun is.



Jim Camden
Jim Camden joined The Spokesman-Review in 1981 and retired in 2021. He is currently the political and state government correspondent covering Washington state.

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