Born To Be Wild - Cultural References

Cultural References

The song was initially released in 1968, but it was subsequently included in many compilation albums and soundtracks. The first of these was the soundtrack for the movie Easy Rider, released in 1969. Unlike the album or single version, the song on this soundtrack is accompanied by the sounds of motorcycles as an introduction. (Another Steppenwolf song from their first album, "The Pusher", was also used in the film.) When the movie was in production, Born to Be Wild was used simply as a placeholder, since Peter Fonda had wanted Crosby, Stills and Nash to do the movie's soundtrack. Eventually, it became clear that the song was well suited for the movie.

Other movies that have used the Steppenwolf version of Born to Be Wild include Problem Child, Coming Home, One Crazy Summer, The Serial, Opportunity Knocks, Dr. Dolittle 2, Speechless, Armed and Dangerous, Mr Bean's Holiday, Wild America, and many others.

"Born to Be Wild" has been used in several movies, trailers, TV shows and advertisings, including:

• The Miami Vice episode "The Great McCarthy"
• The Married... with Children episode "Have You Driven a Ford Lately?"
• The Super Mario Bros. Super Show episode "Toad Warriors"
• Barney's Great Adventure: The Movie (some TV spots only)
• A Bug's Life (TV spots only)
• Rugrats Go Wild
• Six Feet Under
• Dudley Do-Right
• The NeverEnding Story III (parody)
• Barnyard (some advertisements only)
• Borat
• Commercial for the 2007 Hess Monster Truck
• Van Pires: The Next Generation (Theme Song)
• FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman
• Herbie: Fully Loaded
• Blue Cross/Blue Shield (2011 TV commercial)
• Rise of the Guardians (teaser trailer)
• Supernatural (Season 7 finale)
• Rock n' Roll Racing, a Sega Mega Drive game from 1993.
• Recess: School's Out