Bruce Springsteen originally thought ‘Born in the USA’ was "too glib" to be a success.
The 67-year-old musician almost didn’t include the track on his seventh album and admitted he still has mixed feelings about it to this day.
In a conversation with Tom Hanks at the Tribeca Film Festival, he explained: "I remember at the time thinking, ‘It’s too glib.’ I think I still think that. But at the same time, [E Street Band member] Stevie [Van Zandt] said, ‘No no no man, it’s about the band, the brotherhood of your band and your fans.’ And at that time, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and I said, ‘OK, let’s put it on [the record].’ We play it a lot, we’ve played it an awful lot ever since. But I was always a little frightened. The whole record, I always have mixed feelings about."
Bruce also explained that he wants his fans to feel alive when they come to watch him perform at concerts.
He said: "I think the writer tells a story to save his life, to experience his life in the fullest. A good rock song is three minutes of bliss and compressed living – that’s why you can get so excited in such a short period of time. But also, your motivation is to keep yourself afloat. It’s that life-or-death hunger, that was what I wanted my characters to be about, I wanted them to be chasing, it’s what I wanted to communicate to my audience – that life awaits you, but taking it is a rough-and-tumble business."
And Bruce revealed why his beloved New Jersey is so important to his image.
He said: "We were in San Francisco and ended up playing in this little club for hot dogs and toll fare across the bridge called The Matrix. I’m in the bathroom and I’m next to this guy, and he says, ‘You guys are pretty good, where ya from?’ and I said, ‘Jersey,’ and he said, ‘What’s that?’ He didn’t say ‘where’s that,’ he said ‘what’s that.’ That was it. After that, I knew. Also, when I made my first record, they were trying to tie me to New York, and I felt like I wasn’t really a New York artist. I wandered down the boardwalk and picked out the postcard ‘Greetings From Asbury Park,’ and it was Jersey all the way ever since."
Bruce Springsteen still has ‘mixed feelings’ about Born in the USA
