Previously, upbeat and catchy Springsteen songs such as "Blinded by the Light", "Because the Night", and "Fire" had been given away and become hits for others, and Landau preferred the trend not continue.

The title is drawn from a line in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's famous poem "Ulysses": "For always roaming with a hungry heart".

[citation needed] Springsteen's voice was slightly sped up on the recording, producing a higher-pitched vocal, a technique first used by Brian Wilson in the production of "Caroline, No" in 1966.

Dead End Street, which was the first motion picture to feature Springsteen music), the 1983 Tom Cruise hit movie Risky Business,[5] the 1992 dramedy Peter's Friends, and the 1998 Adam Sandler comedy The Wedding Singer.

Billboard described "Hungry Heart" as "a magnificently styled midtempo love song" with an "extremely memorable" hook.

The video featured German rock star Wolfgang Niedecken and his "Leopardefellband", although neither are heard on the actual audio track, as this so-called "Berlin 95" version (which was also released on CD singles) just features Springsteen's live vocals and audience noise laid over the song's original 1980 E Street Band studio recording.

A River Tour performance of it is included on The Essential Bruce Springsteen compilation album's optional disc.

The studio version remained unavailable on CD until the release of the 2015 box set The Ties That Bind: The River Collection.

During the November 20, 1980, show in Chicago's Rosemont Horizon, right after the single hit the Top 10, the audience spontaneously sang the lyrics back to the band during this intro.

The song has also been recorded by Rod Stewart,[32] Jesse Malin, Minnie Driver, Mike Love, Aidan Moffat, Paul Young, Smokie, Lucy Wainwright Roche, Paul Baribeau and Ginger Alford, Sexton Blake, The School, The Chuck Norris Experiment, Juanes, The Mavericks, Darlene Love, Bleachers and Scala & Kolacny Brothers.