

In the movie ‘Easy Rider,’ the two bikers ride across states carrying proceeds from a cocaine deal. Lightning could be a reference to smoking or even making cocaine. In the context of the hippie culture, smoke could be a reference to marijuana, which was a very popular recreational drug among hippies. In the second verse of the song, Steppenwolf digs further into the lifestyle they have adopted, specifically in the light of the bikers.įor bikers, smoke could mean the smoke from their motocycles when they accelerate them. The lyrics suggest emptying all the ammunition the nations hold to be fired into the empty space. These lines helped “Born to Be Wild” to be labeled an anti-war song as well. However, in contrast to this, Steppenwolf also sings This is also a main theme around the hippie culture. In the hook of the song, the singers invite everyone to embrace love.
BORN TO BE WILD FREE
The hippie culture truly practiced the art of being free from the material attachments. The movie touches on topics of socio-cultural issues persistenet during the time and also the hippie culture. In the movei ‘Easy Rider,’ the plot of the story is of two bikers traveling through the American Southwest and South. The start of the song is dedicated to the bikers who would roam from town to town, seemingly not bound by anything or anyone they meet along the way. The lyrics captures this essence and sprays it all over the listener.

The term ‘born to be wild’ references to a human nature of being carefree and worry-free. It’s like a fluke rather than an achievement, though.” They got it only because I signed as a staff writer. Even the publishers at Leeds Music didn’t take it as the first or second song I gave them. ‘Born To Be Wild’ didn’t stand out initially. So all this came together lyrically: the idea of the motorcycle coming out along with the freedom and joy I felt in having my first car and being able to drive myself around whenever I wanted. Around this time I had just purchased my first car, a little secondhand Ford Falcon. “I was walking down Hollywood Boulevard one day and saw a poster in a window saying ‘Born to Ride’ with a picture of a motorcycle erupting out of the earth like a volcano with all this fire around it. The songwriter, Mars Bonfire, explained how he came up with the idea for “Born to Be Wild” what it meant to him
