If you've ever wondered where the term "heavy metal" came from, well, you're definitely not alone. The answer to that question, however, is more complicated than you might think (and not everyone agrees on it), but one thing we do know for sure is which hit song was the first to ever use the phrase...and it came out all the way back in 1968.
As Classic Rock reported, Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild" was actually the first track to ever include "heavy metal" in the lyrics; as such, it could even be considered the "first real metal track," in some ways:
"I like smoke and lightnin' / Heavy metal thunder / Racing with the wind / And the feeling that I'm under"
Granted, it's not as heavy as much of the metal that came in the years after "Born to Be Wild" was released, but it was still one of the hardest-rocking tunes around at the time...even though, as it turns out, the tune wasn't meant to be an anthem for biker gangs.
While "Born to Be Wild" is often associated with motorcycles, due to its inclusion in the iconic 1969 biker movie Easy Rider (starring Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda), the lyrics were actually inspired by a car, as songwriter Mars Bonfire (born Dennis McCrohan) told Guitar Player.
“The biker thing was a big surprise to me,” Bonfire explained, noting that he'd never even been on a motorcycle when he wrote the song. “The truth is, I wrote ‘Born to Be Wild’ about my first car, a beat-up Ford Falcon. It’s not as glamorous as a fire-breathing two-wheeler, but c’mon. Nothing’s as cool as your first car.”
That famous "heavy metal thunder" was a reference to actual thunder, not the roar of a bike on the open road. Bonfire was driving his Falcon through the San Bernardino mountains and got caught in a rainstorm, which forced him to pull over.
"The sky was dark and lightning struck,” he said. "I remembered studying the periodic table of elements in school, and there was a category for heavy metals. The phrase ‘heavy metal thunder’ popped into my head. I had no idea how important those words would soon become.”
Bonfire wasn't having any luck selling the song to L.A. music publishers, so he passed it along to his brother, Jerry Edmonton, who was the drummer for Steppenwolf. Bonfire wasn't in the studio when the band recorded the song, and he was so surprised when her heard the song on the radio for the first time that he felt like he was "lost in a dream."
“The band brought it to life in ways I couldn’t imagine when I played it on my Telecaster," Bonfire continued. "Michael Monarch played brilliantly — I loved his distorted sound. And, of course, my singing couldn’t compare to John Kay. The reality of it didn’t quite hit me at first.”
'Born to Be Wild' became a cultural phenomenon thanks to 'Easy Rider'
It wasn't until Bonfire saw the song featured in Easy Rider, however, that he really understood just how much of an impact "Born to Be Wild" had on listeners.
"When the film was over, I went to the men’s room, and a guy was singing the song at the urinal,” he said. “At that point, I thought, Okay, this thing has struck a nerve.”
Surprisingly, "Born to Be Wild" never made it all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, but it did peak at #2. In the years since, the song's pop culture status hasn't faded one bit; at this point, it's almost impossible to count how many movies, TV shows and commercials has used the tune.
Luckily, according to Bonfire, "most of the time" he's happy with the way his song's legacy has panned out.
“It’s always fun and exciting to hear it," he said, adding, "There’s a new Pampers commercial that uses it, which might not be so good image-wise. But on the whole, I’ve got no complaints.”
Related: 1984 Hit Ranked Among 'Best '80s Pop-Metal Songs' Revived This Glam Rock Band's Career
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