Bruce Springsteen hardly spoke about himself in the early years. But over the decades he has used interviews, memoirs and speeches to reflect on his life – with wisdom, humor and vulnerability. ROLLING STONE has collected the best statements: a kind of spiritual map through the boss’s thinking.
The quiet beginning
During the first ten years of his career, Bruce Springsteen felt it was important to keep a low profile in public statements and simply let his music speak for itself.
His former manager, Mike Appel, had to persuade him to do an interview for a Time magazine cover story in 1975, and Springsteen generally stayed out of partisan political fray – even when President Reagan tried to cash in on some of his popularity by mentioning him by name during the 1984 campaign.
But over the years, Springsteen slowly found his voice. He gave extensive interviews in Rolling Stone and other publications, joined the campaigns of John Kerry, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, and gave brilliant speeches at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony and other music industry events. And over the past decade, he has published his memoirs, appeared in a one-man show on Broadway, and appeared on podcasts and talk shows around the world.
About his heroes
“Roy Orbison’s voice was otherworldly. He had the ability, like all great rock ‘n’ rollers, to sound like he came from another planet and yet hit exactly what was at the heart of your life today, and so he broadened your horizons. I take his records with me when I go on tour today.” –1987
“Dylan was a revolutionary, man. Just as Elvis freed your body, Bob freed your mind. And he showed us that just because music was inherently physical, it didn’t have to be anti-intellectual. He broke the boundaries of what a musician could achieve. Without Bob, the Beatles wouldn’t have done “Sgt. Pepper,” maybe the Beach Boys wouldn’t have done “Pet Sounds,” the Sex Pistols wouldn’t have Did “God Save the Queen,” U2 wouldn’t have done “Pride (In the Name of Love),” Marvin Gaye wouldn’t have done “What’s Going On,” Grandmaster Flash might not have done “The Message,” and the Count Five couldn’t have done “Psychotic Reaction.” And there would never have been a group called Electric Prunes, that’s for sure.” –1988
“Creedence Clearwater Revival made the mistake of being too popular when hipness was everything. They played straightforward American music for the people. In the late ’60s and early ’70s they weren’t the hippest band in the world – just the best.” –1993
“Every musician has their Genesis moment. For you, maybe it was the Sex Pistols or Madonna or Public Enemy. Mine was 1956, Elvis on The Ed Sullivan Show. That night I realized that a white man can create magic, that you don’t have to be limited by your background, your looks, or the social context that oppresses you. You can use your own imagination and a creating transformative self.” –2012
“For me, the Animals were a revelation. The first class-conscious records I ever heard. ‘We Gotta Get Out of This Place’ had this great bass riff that just set the pace. [spielt einen Ausschnitt des Songs] That goes for every song I’ve ever written. This is not a joke.” –2012
“Astral Weeks was an extremely important record for me. It gave me faith in beauty, it gave me a sense of the divine. The divine seems to run through the entire album. Of course there was the incredible singing and bass playing of Richard Davis. It was trance music. It was repetitive. It was the same chord progression over and over again. But it showed how far-reaching something with a very can be a simple basis. Without Astral Weeks there would be no ‘New York City Serenade’.” –2016
About growing up
“In third grade, a nun put me in a trash can under her desk because she told me that was where I belonged. I also had the honor of being the only altar boy who was knocked down by a priest on the altar steps during Mass. The old priest got angry. My mother wanted me to learn how to serve at Mass, but I didn’t know what I was doing, so I tried me to fake it.” –1975
“I spent half of the first 13 years of my life in a kind of trance. People thought I was strange because I always walked around with this look on my face. I was always on the outside, just watching.” –1975
“I used to live in a duplex, and at night my father would lock the front door so my sister and I had to come in through the kitchen. He would sit in the kitchen all night with the lights off, smoking a cigarette, drinking beer – my mother would sit in the living room and watch TV… He started talking to me about what I was doing at school or if I was looking for a job or something like that. Soon we started arguing and shouting to each other. My mother came running out of the living room and tried to stop us from arguing. I ended up running out of the house, storming out the door and telling him it was my life and I could do whatever I wanted.” –1976
“They gave these to me [Militär-]Convocation forms and I filled everything out. I even stated that I was gay and so on. Then this guy called me into his office, talked to me for about three minutes and told me to go home.” –1979
“I remember coming home after three days and going into the kitchen where my mother and father were sitting. My father asked, ‘Where were you?’ and I said, ‘I was at muster.’ He asked, ‘What happened?’ and I said, ‘They didn’t take me.’ And he said, ‘That’s good.’” –1985
“My mother showered me with affection. She tried to give me double the love I was missing from my father and perhaps find the love she was missing from my father as well. All I know is that she always had my back. When I was taken to the police station for minor infractions, she was always there to take me home. She came to my countless baseball games, both when I was failing and in the one season when I was trying to get one real fielder and batsman and my name was in the newspapers. She bought me my first electric guitar, encouraged my music and raved about my first creative writing attempts. She was a mother, and that was exactly what I needed when my world was about to fall apart.” –2016
About politics
“I was never particularly political, but I had a sense of justice. I always wanted to know who won and who lost – and why. I learned that when you sing about America, you’re also singing about politics, whether you want to or not.” –1984
“I think patriotism is love for your country’s ideals, not love for its leaders. I love America, but I have never stopped questioning it.” –2002
“When you sing about workers, you sing about politics. When you sing about racism, you sing about politics. When you sing about love and loss, you sing about human life – and that is politics too.” –2012
About the E Street Band
“I didn’t choose the E Street Band, it happened to me. These people are my witnesses. They accompanied me through the darkness, they supported my life.” –1995
“When we made Born to Run, I was afraid I’d never do something that big again. I didn’t know it was the E Street Band that made it happen. They were my backbone, my brotherhood.” –2016
About romance
“I’ve never been the type to handle love lightly. I thought I could replace it with music. But music doesn’t love you back. It applauds you, yes, but it doesn’t fall asleep next to you.” –2016
“If you really love someone, you have to show yourself. Not on stage, but in life. And that’s much harder.” –2018
About Clarence Clemons
“Clarence was the greatest man I have ever met – physically, spiritually, emotionally. When he walked into the room, the atmosphere changed. Our friendship was the heart of the E Street Band. I could look into his eyes and know I was not alone.” –2011
“I’ve never met someone I was so connected to again. He was my brother – not by blood, but by music.” –2012