July 27, 2008
Springsteen: Silence Is Unpatriotic
Rock Star Answers Critics Who Say His Anti-War Album Is Unpatriotic
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Springsteen's War Songs
Bruce Springsteen tells Scott Pelley why the anti-war message on his new album is patriotic.
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Why Springsteen Still Sings
Bruce Springsteen tells Scott Pelley why he is still touring after all these years.
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Bruce Springsteen, left, talking to correspondent Scott Pelley. (CBS)
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Bruce Springsteen (CBS)
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"How was the news broken? Did Bruce tell the band himself? Tell me about it," Pelley says.
"I think Bruce picked up the phone and called everybody. And I think everybody was shocked and, I'm hurt. And just felt really abandoned," Bittan recalls.
"Was that hard? Was it heartbreaking? You say, 'Look, I'm going on. I'm leaving you behind,'" Pelley asks Springsteen.
"Well, I didn't exactly put it like that," Springsteen says, laughing.
Asked how he put it, Springsteen says, laughing, "I soft-soaped it somehow. Or I tried, you know? And, you know, everybody had different feelings. I mean people were mad or angry and suddenly they're okay. I wasn't going to be any good to them at that moment. You know? And I think what happens is sometimes you got to break your own narrative."
"We all have stories we're living and telling ourselves," he says, laughing. "And there's a time when that narrative has to be broken because you've run out of freedom in it. You've run out of places to go."
The split forced the band to find other places to go. Van Zandt joined the mob on "The Sopranos" on HBO, and drummer Max Weinberg joined Conan O’Brien on NBC. But they always drop what they’re doing to return to Springsteen.
60 Minutes watched the band do a small rehearsal out of the new material before an audience of 2,000 or so in Asbury Park. There’s something special about a Springsteen audience: they know the words, and the stories they feel in themselves. This was the day after Bruce’s 58th birthday, and Pelley found him immediately after the show, wringing wet.
"What did you learn about the band tonight?" Pelley asks.
"We made fewer screw ups than I thought we might. The main thing you learn is not so much the band, because the band will just play better from tonight on out. You know? But you learn a lot about the set, you know, you're trying to work your new things in. You're trying to get in what you're trying to say. You're trying to get people just to rock. You know, to go crazy and have fun. It's ultimately sort of supposed to be a bit of an ecstatic experience," Springsteen says.
Was it?
"And we got there a few times. It's pretty good," Springsteen says, laughing. "And so, you're trying to figure out, 'Okay, now how do you take it up to a certain height? And how do you get there?'"
"Pretty good for 58," Pelley remarks.
"Oh. That's nothing. I'm still a chiseled hunk of muscle so…I guess I'll keep going for a while," Springsteen says, laughing.
Springsteen's music career began over four decades earlier as a teenager in Freehold, N.J.
"I was probably one of the smartest kids in my class at the time. Except you would've never known it," Springsteen says, laughing. "You would've never known it. Because where my intelligence lay was not, wasn't able to be tapped within that particular system. And I didn't know how to do it myself until music came along and opened me up not just to the world of music but to the world period, you know, to the events of the day. To the connection between culture and society and those were things that riveted me, engaged me in life," Springsteen says. "Gave me a sense of purpose. What I wanted to do. Who I wanted to be. The way that I wanted to do it. What I thought I could accomplish through singing songs."
"It's not just the singing. It's the writing, isn't it, for you?" Pelley asks.
"Of course. Every good writer or filmmaker has something eating at them, right? That they can't quite get off their back . And so your job is to make your audience care about your obsessions," Springsteen says.
His recurring obsession is the life that he knew as a boy, the harsh relationship with his working class dad who didn't think much of a rock and roll son.
"It was a tough, struggling household. People struggled emotionally. People struggled financially to get through the day," Springsteen remembers. "Small town. Small town world which I continue to return to. It's like when I went to write, though, I put my father's clothes on. You know the immersement in that world through my parents and my own experience as a child and the need to tell a story that maybe was partially his. Or maybe a lot his. I just felt drawn to do it."
"Your dad wasn't all that proud of you as a young man?" Pelley asks.
"Oh, he was later. When I came home with the Oscar and I put it on the kitchen table, and he just looked at it and said, 'Bruce, I'll never tell anybody what to do ever again,'" Springsteen remembers, laughing. "It was like, that was his comment. So I said, 'Oh. That's okay.'"
Produced By John Hamlin
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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See all 585 CommentsBruce, that''s why they call you the Boss. You go man!
We rock and rollers will always support a great cause this war is Unpatriotic. Keep up the good work Bruce, I have and will always be a fan of someone who speaks up for what he believes in, the rest can go to you know where.
It doesn''t suprise me that you''re not a Springsteen fan. You seem much more like a Debbi Boone type to me.
The problem is, libs, the left seems to think we can''t do that. Look at how you responded to the Dixie Chicks (who I loved)when their audience didn''t appreciate the comments by maines in London. Why, they were called facists because they had the nerve to boycott concerts and destroy cd''d THAT THEY BOUGHT!
So, bruce can mouth off, he has a stage and many will think his stand is brilliant. Those of us who don''t agree with him and say so will be villified by the so called enlightened left.
Welcome to 1984.
"It doesn''''t suprise me that you''''re not a Springsteen fan. You seem much more like a Debbi Boone type to me." posted by briannorwood
Hahahaha, that''s good.
Obviously, you don''t know how to read very well.
What Bruce is saying is that all of us (left and right) have a duty to be informed about what our government is doing, and speak out if we don''t like it.
It''s called Democracy!
And don''t give me "he''s from humble beginings" garbage.
Your argument is SO stupid it defies description. I hear this all the time from chickenshit rightwingers.
Let''s examine this on the surface; evil, scary islamic terrorists (not all Muslims mind you) have the desire to enslave the US and make us all servants. So how is the USA going to be ruled by islamic extremists? Are they going to amass at the Canadian border one night and invade Vermont? Do they have an air force? Do they even remotely have access to the industrial resources needed in order invade and conquer the US?
And do you think for one minute that the US Army, the most powerful in the world, is going to be defeated by what amounts to a bunch of undisciplined rednecks from Pakistan? Boys with hardly any training and rusty AK''s are going to overpower the entire Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine corp? We can even pretend that the Army is knocked out somehow by the gang that can''t shoot straight, but then there are also something like 300 million guns in the hands of US Citizens. You think they too will just give up in the first round?
It''s good to know that right wing nutcases have so much faith in our armed forces.
This is all the rabid Bush supporters have left in their ammo box; fear. There is NO logic whatsoever to the moronic claim that the terrorists are somehow going to defeat and conquer the US on our own soil and I laugh every time I see it printed.
Shut Up and Sing...Stick to the Knitting and what you do best as they say. I''m no longer interested in any thing you say, and more than likely, anything you release in the way of Song, given its all got a Political spin to it now. So sad from where you came from so long ago when you did sing of Love and the Road and Friendships and the like.
You and Neil Young should both go do something to prove your Patriotism to the Land you both claim to so Love...and he''s a Canadian, but claims he loves it here.
Funny how these big mouth know it all Rockers who have all the answers and directions for everyone else to follow rarely, if ever, have served their Country in any form.
Those who wish to leverage the idealized memory of Abe Lincoln should remember that he was wrong when he suspended Habeus Corpus and cruel when he wished for more bloody battles like Fredricksburg. He was also wrong when he silenced the Army from reporting losses during the Wilderness Campaign.
Posted by Xlib
What a total load of poo. The "left" doesn''t care if you burn up CDs that you''ve bought. I care much more that Ms Maines was given death threats for simply being a citizen and expressing opinions. I care much more that dissent is not viewed as dissent but as betrayal or treason.
Trust me--I''ve never once thought that any of the Hollywood right don''t have the right to have an opinion--even if it''s different than mine. The fascism comes in the repression of alternative points of view.
Have fun at the Toby Keith concert.
Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!
Posted by Xlib
Who said he was an expert? What makes you an expert? What makes 99% of the idiots on talk radio experts?
Nothing.
He''s claiming to be smarter that you--even though it''s pretty obvious he is--he''s allowed to have an opinion and he''s allowed to express it.
He put together some mighty fine players to make some real good music!
Why in the hell do you think the Founders put the First Amendment first? It''s for all of us, and it''s for speech that some might not like to hear.
If you don''t like what Bruce Springsteen has to say, then don''t listen.
teeus-sounds like the same old leftist garbage spewed out by the dems. And just what makes you think I like toby keith?? Just because I''m not enlightened like the smug, self serving left. How very judgemental of you. But, typical.
replace the "DOT" with a period "." to get there.
Top Mafia Figure, Tony Gambino, Implicates Vatican And Bush in Prior Knowledge And Complicity in 9/11 Mass Murder.
The $hit is going to hit the fan pretty soon--I hope the US citizens are ready!
Posted by jeepmanjr
Well, thank GOD that really insightful criteque has been posted.
Of course you wouldn''t know if Springsteen dropped off the planet. You''d actually have to pay attention to events around you.
A tall order, I know.
It doesn''t matter if you agree or not with Mr. Springsteen. What you can all agree on is your wonderful American freedom. He is free to speak and so are you.
You don''t know how lucky you are.
I don''t think someone is a fascist because they argue to disagree. The fascism comes in the repression of alternative points of view.
And the thing about Toby Keith? Dude. You need to lighten up.
It''s. A. Joke.
Posted by JCS7291
Uh oh. Someone''s tin-foil hat has slipped...
What is so "tinfoil" about truth?
"Tinfoil" is when you ignore, hide, and repress the truth.
Remember, "Silence is complicity" and you seem to want silence.
He was "BORN IN THE USA" but the task of govern the USA was set for George Bush and its not an easy task.....If Springsteen was an inteligent guy , and hes showing hes not, he would have noticed that this war wanst trigged by the US. Those terrorists of al-qaeda started it. Wiretapping,no habeas corpus,surveilance, and a lot of things are the only way to face this serious threat.It seems to me that Springsteen was brainwashed by the democrats propaganda in the last 6 years. He must know that democratics politician has invested so much money on this anti-war propaganda because they want to win the presidency in 2008, not to do good things, but to steal all the money they didnt steal in the Bill Clinton era.
I am allowed, however, to think you''re a whack-a-doodle, and to express THAT as often as I like.
You forgot to mention another reason the US went to war -- Because Bush needed to get re-elected. I don''t blame you for forgetting. People often do that when they''re brainwashed by the "Conservative Right".
I can say "____ is ____" if I can point to a relevant media or other source, or if I found a pattern of events and say "____ is ____ because of this pattern". Which may still very well be wrong, but at least has a point worth debating.
But I cannot say "____ is ____" just for the sake of it. It''s rather like saying "Nobody owes anyone anything".
(See?)
Case in POINT!
wwwDOTlawfulpathDOTcom/ref/sw4qw/indexDOTshtml
Replace the "DOT" with "." to get there.
teeus (or anyone else for that matter), do you want to comment on this?
Uh....no. Not really. The extended link didn''t work, but I did look at your website and it has nothing to do with Bruuuuuuuuuuuuce.
Rock on!!
Not one of them effectively rebut anything Bruce said, instead they devolve into talk radio hosts, hurling childish insults and unfounded, ridiculous comparisons.
Does every wingnut live in such a paranoid, insular world?
They have a diffent perspective than yours, and therefore they hate the United States? What nonsense. How closed minded of you. So, the only opinion that matters is yours? Wow. How...NOT American.
-What''s your point?
Chicago Tribune 10/2/07
Veterans, documents suggest U.S., Israel didn''t tell full story of deadly ''67 incident
For Lockwood and many other survivors, the anger is mixed with incredulity: that Israel would attack an important ally, then attribute the attack to a case of mistaken identity by Israeli pilots. And they''re also incredulous that, for years, their own government would reject their calls for a thorough investigation.
Their anger has been stoked by the declassification of government documents and the recollections of former military personnel, including some quoted in this article for the first time, which strengthen doubts about the U.S. National Security Agency''s position that it never intercepted the communications of the attacking Israeli pilots -- communications, according to those who remember seeing them, that showed the Israelis knew they were attacking an American naval vessel.
The documents also suggest that the U.S. government, anxious to spare Israel''s reputation and preserve its alliance with the U.S., closed the case with what even some of its participants now say was a hasty and seriously flawed investigation.
In declassifying the most recent and largest batch of materials last June 8, the 40th anniversary of the attack, the NSA, this country''s chief U.S. electronic-intelligence-gatherer and code-breaker, acknowledged that the attack had "become the center of considerable controversy and debate."
available athttp://www.nsa.gov/liberty .
Karl Marx wrote and Lenin implemented a policy of smearing adversaries by stating a falsehood repeatedly, believing if you say a lie enough times, it becomes the truth. There is a liberal movement in this country with spokeman like Bruce Springsteen, Sean Penn, George Soros and Alan Combs that is nothing short of an American Communist movement.
Karl Marx wrote and Lenin implemented a policy of smearing adversaries by stating a falsehood repeatedly, believing if you say a lie enough times, it becomes the truth. There is a liberal movement in this country with spokeman like Bruce Springsteen, Sean Penn, George Soros and Alan Combs that is nothing short of an American Communist movement.
It is funny, because the same people who say our liberty is "socialist" are the same ones who want to infringe but also FORCE YOU TO PAY FOR IT!. I could see if Bush''s surveillance (or even the war) were funded voluntarily. But these projects are socialist by their very means of funding.
Send the receipts for Bush (or Hillary''s) zany projects TO THEIR PROPONENTS ONLY. Then the free market will say who is right to promote them. Clearly the liberals and blood-fetish conservatives alike have great fear of the notion of even a simple democracy-of-money! It is too funny for words.
Bruce Springsteen is a political songwriter. You asked what about future Iraqi civilian deaths. What about the hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens who''ve been killed by George Bush Jr.''s war (conservative estimates put the total at about 400,000)?
And what about all the Iraqi war veterans who are against the war? Should they sign up for your "corpse removal"?
Conservatives do NOT have a monopoly on patriotism. I am more well informed and patriotic than most conservatives, yet I know that the Iraq invasion was a huge mistake. It''s cost far too much money; too many lives; and distracted the United States from catching the real killer: Osama bin Laden. He was in Tora Bora, Afghanistan shortly after 9/11 and George Bush Jr. would NOT authorize enough troops to seal off the area, and he escaped. That''s an indisputable fact. Look it up. Then tell me how patriotic he is. Perhaps you might try reading a newspaper or a book about the subject. I suggest "Ghost Wars" by former CIA agent Steve Cole, or "Imperial Hubris" written by Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA''s "bin Laden" unit.
-You need to chill and get a grip.
There are bigger lies being told by bigger and more liars.
"They don''t think of no habeas corpus," he says, referring to the people being held by the U.S. government in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
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