1982 · Behind the Songs
Bruce Springsteen wrote it, then flew to Los Angeles to play guitar on it.
The hardest-rocking track on Donna Summer’s 1982 self-titled album arrived by rock royalty’s hand. “Protection” was written by Bruce Springsteen, produced by Quincy Jones, and cut at The Hit Factory in January and February 1982 — with Springsteen himself in the room.
The chain of events started with label boss David Geffen, who had his manager Jon Landau ask Springsteen whether he would write something for Summer. Springsteen was in the studio with Gary U.S. Bonds and cut a demo with the E Street Band; when Landau heard “Cover Me,” he talked Springsteen into keeping that one for himself. Springsteen went back to the writing pad and came up with “Protection,” registering the copyright on March 8, 1982.
For the Los Angeles sessions at Westlake Audio, Springsteen and E Street pianist Roy Bittan flew west to help shape Summer’s version. Springsteen played the guitar solo and added backing vocals — a genuine collaboration, not a mailed-in demo.
The credits read like a studio hall of fame: Ernie Watts on saxophone, Steve Lukather on guitar, David Paich and Greg Phillinganes on synthesizers, Louis Johnson on bass, Jeff Porcaro on drums, Steve Porcaro on synth programming, and Bruce Swedien engineering. The song earned Summer a Grammy nomination for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, was released as a single in Belgium and Japan — Japan in December 1982, Europe in 1983 — and reached No. 26 on Spain’s Los 40 chart.
And the coda only deepens the legend: Springsteen’s own recording of “Protection” was at one point considered for Born in the U.S.A. — and has never been released. The song later resurfaced on the 1997 compilation One Step Up/Two Steps Back, still sounding like the one time the Boss handed the Queen of Disco a rock record.