“Secret Garden” by Bruce Springsteen is one of four new songs included on his 1995 compilation Greatest Hits. It was released as a single and reached #64 that spring in the US and was also a minor hit overseas.

In late 1996, “Secret Garden” was included on the soundtrack for the movie Jerry Maguire. In March 1997, a program director at KKRZ-FM lifted excerpts of dialogue from an Oscar screener tape of the film and placed them between Springsteen’s vocals, creating an unofficial remix that became the station’s most requested song the day after it was first aired.

Bootlegged copies of the remix quickly circulated around the country until 150 FM stations were airing it, putting the “Secret Garden” back on the Hot 100 at #50 in late March, and eventually pushing it to a new peak of #19 the following month, making it Springsteen’s last US top 40 to date. Springsteen, director Cameron Crowe and star of the film Tom Cruise all declined to comment on the remix, but the film’s music supervisor Danny Bramson told EW:

It’s inspiring that this could happen on a grassroots basis with no organized attempt from either the filmmakers or the guys that put the album together. It’s wonderful to see that [the mix] has struck a chord.

Outside the US, Columbia issued a new single featuring the original version of “Secret Garden”, sending it up the charts in several countries again, including much-higher top 20 placements in The Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Ireland and the UK.