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Bruce Springsteen was a guest on Thursday evening at “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” – With encouraging words of hope and an anecdote about his first (and only) karaoke appearance.
Towards the end of the conversation, which was led together with “Deliver Me From Nowhere” main actor Jeremy Allen White, Kimmel asked the musician to share some thoughts on the state of the country and the world. Springsteen complied with the request. In short, but urgent.
“I have been something of a musical ambassador for America in the world for fifty years,” he said. “I have this song,” Land of Hope and Dreams “, which is a kind of prayer for the country and we play it every evening. I know with certainty that many people in the world still see our country like this. Not as a country of fear, not the division, not the state censorship, not hatred. And I basically believe that this is an America for which it is worth fighting. ”
Hope, humor and karaoke
The rest of the interview was of course less serious. Springsteen and White mainly talked about “Deliver Me From Nowhere”. The musician remembered how he stole the title of his song “Born in the USA” from a script that filmmaker Paul Schrader had sent to him. He also spoke about the upcoming “Nebraska ’82” box set, which is also included in the legendary electrical version of the album, with the E Street Band.
In between, Springsteen told another story-about his first and only karaoke appearance. “I was in London, in a small bar, Karaoke ran, and I said, ‘I’m going up now and do it damn Karaoke!'” He remembered with a laugh.
As a song, he chose “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” from the Tempatations. Since he was Bruce Springsteen, he thought he would sing a few tones and the bar would “freak out”. Instead, he joked, “I stood up there, started singing, and they just thought I would be some fool who wanted to do karaoke! It was really disappointing – I never did it again.”