Talk About a Dream: The Essential Interviews of Bruce Springsteen (65 page)
I know you’ve spoken about Clarence a bit already, but I just wanted to ask, with respect to the actual making of this album, did the passing of Clarence have any effect on that?
Well, most of the record was made; 95 percent of it was made, and it wasn’t an E Street Band record. It was basically a solo project. So that didn’t immediately impact the record. This record took quite a different
musical tilt. We were lucky to get him on “Land of Hope and Dreams,” which was essential—really essential. When he comes up, it’s just a lovely moment for me.
Two years ago, onstage in Glastonbury, you joined a small band from New Jersey called the Gaslight Anthem. Is it true that your sons make you listen to new bands?
Yeah! You know, music is a family business. Of course, you’re always concerned that your kids might … I mean, it’s what Mom and Dad do, how cool can it be? I always say, kids wouldn’t mind coming out to see 60,000 people boo you, but who wants to see 60,000 people cheer their parents? Nobody really wants to see that—I don’t care how great a kid you are, you don’t want to see that. Booing,
that’s
interesting.
But he ended up with tremendous musical taste and a great musical appetite, and he just began, “Hey Dad, come here. Check it out.” So I actually heard a lot of music that way: Gaslight Anthem, Dropkick Murphys, Bad Religion, Against Me! … a lot of young musicians through his guidance. I’ve gone to quite a few shows with him, and we’ve had some great times, so it’s a nice thing to share.
I want to ask about your songwriting process. Do you set aside time each day to write? And can you talk about how inspiration comes?
I don’t set aside any time in the day. I write when the fire gets lit, and then I do it in spare time. I work at home, so there’s always something going on—somebody needs to be picked up from school, somebody needs to be dropped off at school. But it doesn’t take me long, like it used to. These songs were all written … “We Take Care of Our Own,” “Shackled and Drawn,” and “Rocky Ground” came along for almost a gospel album package I was thinking about. And then the other things came very quickly, one after another, as soon as I found the voice that I was going to use. “Easy Money,” and then the rest of the songs came pretty quickly, one day at a time.
The main thing writing is about, a lot of it is
waiting
. You may wait a year to write something good. So you have to be pretty good at waiting. And I may write a lot in the meantime—I wrote 30 or 40 songs before these songs, just to sort of keep everything going.
The inspiration thing, if that’s what you’d call it, it’s like a visitation. Something happens where suddenly, it’s like the planets aligning: the
times, what’s in the air, what’s inside of you, there’s your craft, your skills … and suddenly they go
click
. And zoom. If they don’t align, nothing happens. When it clicks—when the times, you, your story, the story that is alive out there at the moment, what’s going on in the world, your craft, your skills align like that—then bang, it comes out, and then good things happen. Hopefully. You sort of wait for that moment a lot.
One last question. Should they ever start filming
The Sopranos
again, would you join Stevie in that? What would be a part for you?
I have no acting skills whatsoever. This is all the acting I can do, and I’m doing it right now. So you see, it would be very dull. But Steve, on the other hand, is naturally hilarious, as he has been since the day I met him. He was quite a natural. I’m going to stick to music for now.
Before we go, just a personal favor … can you do that falsetto again?
I’m not gonna be as good as Obama. Obama can
sing
. Did you see that? [
Sings falsetto
]: “Let’s stay together.” I can’t do it [
laughs
]. He’s better than me!
Robert Santelli is the executive director of the GRAMMY Museum. His books include
Greetings from E Street: The Story of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
. This interview was posted just before the 2013 GRAMMY award ceremony, to mark Springsteen being honored as the 2013 MusiCares Person of the Year.
Perhaps more than any other recording artist today, Bruce Springsteen celebrates the power and glory of the gospel of rock and roll. After more than 40 years of strapping on a guitar and fronting a band, Springsteen has reached a point in his career where he could rest on his laurels and few would blame him. Only he hasn’t. And won’t. Not now. Not tomorrow. Probably not ever.
Here’s proof: Instead of slowing down, he’s sped up. Instead of playing less, he’s playing more. Instead of becoming soft and more forgiving, he’s become hard and more pressing. Springsteen used to play three-hour-plus shows—with an intermission. Now he plays four hours—with no intermission.
Given a long, distinguished career that includes world tours, sold-out
stadium shows, No. 1 albums, 20 GRAMMY Awards, a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, and a Kennedy Center Honor, Springsteen could write safe and secure albums that cater to modern pop sensibilities and the charts. But
Wrecking Ball
, his latest effort, is a masterpiece of intensity and fury. It pokes a finger in the chest of our national leaders and demands answers as to why we’ve come to a place where the American dream is in jeopardy of losing its soul and promise.
Recently, I met up with Springsteen in Portland, Oregon, at the Rose Quarter, where he and the E Street Band were to perform. He had just finished soundcheck, which, after finalizing sound levels and lighting cues, turned into a playful romp through the catalog of Paul Revere and The Raiders, a Pacific Northwest group from the ’60s particularly popular in Portland.
I first interviewed Springsteen in 1973 when I was a budding music journalist for the
Asbury Park Press
on the Jersey Shore. Back then he was hoping to make an impression beyond the bars and boardwalk of the Shore with his debut album,
Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J
. To say he’s come a long way is an understatement. Now, he participates in presidential campaigns and owns a body of work that tells us as much about America as reading John Steinbeck or listening to Woody Guthrie.
Thoughtful and certainly aware of his musical and cultural importance, Springsteen takes his role as one of our greatest music treasures quite seriously. Giving back is something that he’s most concerned with, be it through his charitable endeavors, his benefit concerts, or his committed care for people who have been dealt a lesser hand. It’s the main reason why Springsteen is the 2013 MusiCares Person of the Year.
What does it mean to be honored as MusiCares’ 2013 Person of the Year? You’re joining an impressive list of honorees
.
It’s really nice, really an honor. I remember I was a part of the program when MusiCares honored James Taylor. As a music event, it was very enjoyable. It’s a great organization. I’m glad to be a part of it.
Over the years you’ve supported many causes and charities, but none seem closer to your heart than feeding the hungry. How did this act of philanthropy get to the top of your list?
In the early 1980s, at the start of the
Born in the U.S.A
. tour, I went to Pittsburgh and met a labor organizer there who told me about how the area had been affected by deindustrialization and widespread unemployment.
He had set up a food bank for steel workers who were having problems feeding their families. The whole food bank program was just beginning to form back then. I was looking for some way to put my music to some service on a nightly basis. You go into a town, you play a little music, you leave something behind. That idea connected us to the local community. It was a very simple idea, but it really resonated with me.
More recently, you’ve been very involved with relief efforts for the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Being from the Jersey Shore, where so much damage has occurred, must make this a very important project for you
.
Anyone who’s grown up or lived on the Jersey Shore knows the place is unique. I’ve watched Asbury Park try to get back up on its feet for 25 years. It’s hard to see any setback at all. The Jersey Shore is the kind of place where the policeman has a little cottage that might have been in the family for years and many other people call home. The destruction was unimaginable. It’s going to take years to overcome. I’m trying to do whatever I can to help my neighbors get back to some sort of normal life.
In 2012 the United States celebrated the centennial of the birth of Woody Guthrie, one of our greatest songwriters. Can you describe his influence on your music as well as your life?
I was in my late 20s, in the process of shaping my musical outlook and what I wanted it to be about, when I first encountered Woody Guthrie. I had made my way through rock music and then turned to country music. But I still hadn’t quite found something that addressed the issues I was interested in at the time. Woody was like a path to a full and active musical citizenship. With him, there was a deep awareness of the social forces at work in people’s lives. I was interested in addressing those ideas and having them become a part of the music I made.
Many of your songs, like Guthrie’s, reach out to people who don’t necessarily have a voice in our democracy. The songs echo their fears and frustrations and perhaps their diminished belief in the American dream
.
In a way, I guess you could say that. You could hear someone sing the blues. You could hear frustration and anger in rock music. But you couldn’t quite experience or hear a broader human thoughtfulness
about where you could go with those feelings. Where do you put that energy? Woody was the first guy that showed me what to do with it.
Bob Dylan has also been an influence, especially early in your career
.
That’s true. After Bob, I went, more or less backwards, to pop music’s antecedents. The thing about Bob’s music is that it was beautiful—beautifully written, kind of wry and tough-minded, and I liked that. It was direct and quite colloquial and I liked that too. He was writing about a whole number of broader issues that were touched upon in rock music at the time, but not directly addressed.
You had the opportunity to sing Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” with Pete Seeger at President Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009. I imagine that was a memorable event for you
.
Yeah, that was quite a moment. Pete’s bottom line was that we sing all verses—including the politically charged ones—and that we get all the kids in the choir who backed us up to sing them as well. It was a lovely moment, you know, a very lovely moment.
A few months ago, you were active in the president’s re-election campaign, squeezing in appearances at rallies between tour dates
.
For the past three presidential election cycles, I have been a part of a political campaign. This time it was different because it was for the
president
, not just a candidate who wanted to be president. For me, the choices were particularly stark this time around. I was really glad to be there. I’d been a supporter of President Obama all along.
How is playing for a campaign audience different from playing for a Bruce Springsteen concert audience?
Well, the campaign audiences are incredibly broad. I go to Ohio with Jay-Z, so Jay-Z’s audience is there, my audience is there, and then there is a purely political audience that’s there. So you’re playing to an enormous cross section of people, including children. On tour, I don’t quite have an opportunity to reach this varied audience when I’m playing just to my fans. Basically, you walk onstage and you’re looking at this broad spectrum of America. The people may or may not know some of your music. So you’re depending on how good your language is. You need to communicate in a very fresh and direct way. For all three times I’ve helped out on a campaign, that’s what I enjoyed the most.
You’ve never held back from inserting political messages in your own concerts
.
If you come to one of our shows, the political is usually a subtext. On the campaign trail, that reverses itself. The subtext becomes the main text, because that’s how everyone is hearing it. Every line and every bit of your language is shaded towards the things people are fighting for and caring about. It’s wonderful to hear your music come to life in that context. It’s been an honor to have that experience. If you’re lucky, you get the chance to just nudge the country in this direction, or that. It was the reason why I wrote a lot of those songs.
You come from working-class roots. You’ve obviously gone well beyond them. How do you stay connected to where you came from?
People always ask that question like there’s some trick to it [
laughs
]. Really, that was something that came very natural to me from the beginning. I could look back and see that there were a lot of my heroes who came before me that got distracted or lost in the confusing life that came with their success. So, I had a deep sense of where my power source was coming from, you know. It came from memory and experience, rooted in geography, locality, a sense of place, a certain people. These are the things that are at the heart of the engine on a nightly basis. Maintaining a connection to those things, to me, was always a survival instinct. It was necessary. The things that pulled you away from that, I viewed with some suspicion. I’ve certainly enjoyed the life and privilege that I’ve had because of my success. But there’s been a fundamental focus on those things that we carried over the years with the E Street Band. I’m lucky I’ve had the band I’ve had, one that was surrounded by those things and believed in those things as well.
You say that you were suspicious of success. How so?
I was suspicious of the easy things that your talent brought you, you know. You have to be wary to survive. I think it was something that was natural to my character, so I don’t take too much credit for it.
