Springsteen: Silence Is Unpatriotic

Rock Star Answers Critics Who Say His Anti-War Album Is Unpatriotic

(CBS)  This segment was originally broadcast on Oct. 7, 2007. It was updated on July 25, 2008.

It's hard to imagine, but Bruce Springsteen turned 58 last year. His breakout hit, "Born to Run," is 32 years old. While rock stars his age are content to tour with their greatest hits, Springsteen launched what may become his most controversial work ever as a songwriter.

Even now, Springsteen is an artist in progress, having moved from stories about girls and cars to populist ballads that echo the dust bowl days of Woody Guthrie. Springsteen has put all that together now in his first tour with the E Street Band in four years. As correspondent Scott Pelley first reported last fall, he has returned to full-throated rock and roll, and a message that's sharper than ever, damning the war in Iraq, and questioning whether America has lost its way at home.

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Springsteen told 60 Minutes his concert is part circus, dance party, political rally, and big tent revival. "You're the shaman, you know? You're the storyteller. You're the magician. The idea is whatever the ticket price, we're supposed to be there to deliver something that can't be paid for. That's our job," Springsteen says.

"You have got to be, wild guess, worth somewhere north of 100 million dollars. Why are you still touring? You don't have to do this," Pelley remarks.

"What else would I do? You got any clues?" Springsteen asks. "Got any suggestions? I mean, am I going to garden? Why would you stop. I mean, you play the music and you know, grown men cry. And women dance. That's why you do it."

"It's good to be a rock star," Pelley says.

"I would say that yes it is," Springsteen says. "But the star thing I can live with. The music I can't live without. And that's how it lays out for me, you know. I got as big an ego and enjoy the attention. My son has a word, he calls it 'Attention Whore.'"

"But you have to be one of those or else why would you be up in front of thousands of people, you know, shaking your butt. But at the same time, when it comes down to it, it's the way it makes you feel. I do it because of the way it makes me feel when I do it. It gives me meaning, it gives me purpose," Springsteen explains.

"Some of the pieces in the new record are gonna be considered controversial. Give me a sense of what you think has to be said. Why are you still writing?" Pelley asks,

"It's how I find out who you are, and who I am, and then who we are. I'm interested in that. I'm interested in what it means to be an American," Springsteen says. "I'm interested in what it means to live in America. I'm interested in the kind of country that we live in and leave our kids. I'm interested in trying to define what that country is. I got the chutzpa or whatever you want to say to believe that if I write a really good about it, it's going to make a difference. It’s going to matter to somebody."
To do that this time, he gathered up his nearly life-long friends in one of the most successful neighborhood bands ever, the E Street Band, named for the road where they used to rehearse. His wife of 16 years, Patti Scialfa, plays guitar. They have three teenagers back home.

Their reunions start where they first met, in Asbury Park, N.J. For a rock band, it's all very businesslike; rehearsal starts at 9 a.m.

There are more than 250 songs in the Springsteen repertoire. That's what makes rehearsals, like the one Pelley watched, so critical. Before each concert, maybe just an hour before, Springsteen writes by hand the list of songs, and their order. He changes it every night. But at least one song is always there, so familiar to the band that all he has to write on the list is "B-to-R," as in "Born to Run."

E Street keyboardist Roy Bittan and guitarist Steve van Zandt go back with Springsteen more than 30 years.

Do they hate playing "Born to Run" over and over again?

"It's funny you said that because I was watching something on TV. And it was Tony Bennett. And they asked Tony Bennett, 'Aren't you tired of singing I Left My Heart In San Francisco?' And his answer was, 'It gave me the keys to the world,'" Bittan says. "Well there it is, that's it."

"I figure if we do a few more tours I might actually learn it," van Zandt says, laughing. "So, you know. I mean, we live in hope, right?"

[jimycrakhorn]

America has been conscripted by zionist jews who could care less about America as long as they get what they want, money, land, power. Just check out the enlisted ranks and find out the ratio of enlisted servicemen who are of Jewish faith. Hardly one, kind of like Arabs.

[jimycrakhorn]

Just go to an airport and watch all the goons wearing badges and guns staring down travlelers, frisking them like criminals, and rifling through people''s belongings, America is rotting from the inside out!!!!

Anyone who would give in to this kind of authoritarian overreach in the name of safety deserves neither safety nor freedom to walk out the front door. We the people are the ones who should rise up and confront the DHS and TSA because our congressional leadership has abjegated their responsibility to defend the constitution thanks to security and defense industry grafting through political contributions

[rob91325]

Bruce Springsteen (and Democratic politicians) tells us %u201CI think that we''ve seen things happen over the past six years that I don''t think anybody ever thought they''d ever see in the United States%u201D - you would think George Bush had signed Executive Order 9066 %u2013 oh wait %u2013 that was a Democratic president that signed it and a Republican president %u2013 Ronald Reagan %u2013 that apologized for it. Google it!

[sweetlife743]

I have been a Springsteen fan, E-Street Band fan for 32 years and do not agree with (most of) his opinions regarding the war in Iraq. I know that every concert I go to will include some "agenda" that I am most likely on the other side of the argument and that is okay with me. I am grateful SOMEONE is brave enough to put it out there, I am grateful to live in a country where we have the freedom to express unpopular opinions. I find him to be an intelligent person who has every right to use his music, his songwriting talent, and his stage to express what should be food for thought for all of us. He chooses to use his millions to speak out; get a message out there that many Americans DO agree with. How many of us truly put our money where our mouths are? Our freedom of speech allows Bruce to give his opinion, via music or 60 minutes or whatever, and, for those of you who you disagree, to give your educated opinion. Using your freedom of speech to call him (or others names and drug addicts, etc.) is really pointless and just illustrates a lack of respect for others and, in my opinion, a lack of intelligence.

[greybeardvet]

What''s not to love about this fabulous spirit? He''s not only a fabulous entertainer but a fabulous story teller in the best sense of the word; a story teller on a par with Guthrie and Seeger who keeps the populist dream alive by telling the truth about the corruption and greed of Bush''s ruling class.

Take a close look at the creeps that call him unpatriotic, 99% of them have not sacrificed a thing for this country, all they do is swindle and cheat and send working-class kids to kill and be killed on foreign soil.

[aaabee-2009]

i just dont understand springsteen, mellancamp, bono and the like always popping off about topics their drug addled brains know nothing about. Posted by URSODUMB at 09:15 AM : Jul 28, 2008

I must ask about Talk Radio and the national forum those people are given to do exactly that, pop off on subjects they have no real expertice in.

What inside-the-beltway experience does Limbaugh, Hannity, or Savage have? What political education do they have, or political experience, yet they have the national ear for their personal points of view.

Is it because Springsteen''s point of view is a more liberal one that people here are complaining?

Political statements and art have never been strangers. Art, such as music, sculpture, or the written word, is exactly the right forum for the expression of all human feelings and points of view. Art imitates life, after all.

Bruce Springsteen is an artist. He must be allowed to project life through his art, his music. He must be allowed to speak on the same exact premise as Talk Radio hosts are allowed and for the same reasons.

Where do you feel censorship starts?

Censorship is dangerous. It is a knife that cuts both ways. It silences the speaker and it denys the listener new information. Censorship silences diversity, it silences communication and it silences freedom of expression. Without those things, how much less humane would we all be?

[oneamerican_]

Liberals are just plain idiots - and Bruce Springsteen is no exception.

His son is right - Springsteen is a self-centered egomaniac, and his music reflects that.

[xyno-2009]

The troops are helping corporations execute a land and oil grab

Posted by brianbwb at 12:55 AM : Jul 28, 2008

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Well that would explain why gas prices are so cheap here in the U.S. right now.

[mythoughtsr]

Yeah yeah we know all the warmongers and haters will come here to comment, but despite all the logistics of this war, the greed, the lies and what have you, it does boil down to the fact that there are HUGE numbers of people over there who are working full time to kill you and your family. No doubt about it. I do not subscribe to either party (Dem or Rep); they are all nut cases and I believe the government is full of greedy liars but I understand why they are over there and I don''t much care if you agree or disagree with me.

There are plenty of lunatics on this board. Just read their yawn-inducing comments about kool aid and seig heil and other assorted nonsense. They don''t make any points other than cementing their lunacy but they will never understand how speaking like that makes them look. Bruce Springsteen can speak out because he''s famous. I for one don''t give a da.m.n about what he has to say. Just because he''s rich doesn''t make him right and nothing he sings will bring those men and women home.

[brianbwb-2009]

"...Whether you approve of the Iraq war or not, there arelots of american young men sacrificing their life to protect that of Mr. Springteen of his chidldren..." Posted by apiallat

BS, pure and simple.

The troops are helping corporations execute a land and oil grab, nothing more, the invasion and occupation of Iraq has nothing whatsoever to do with protecting the US, in fact, they are creating more resentment, which makes it even more difficult for non-oil American businesses to do international business.