Guitar Tricks Insider April/May Digital Edition | Page 42

ON SONGWRITING

“The whole thing basically – in rock and roll –
is dancing on your problems. So a song could be
about something that is not necessarily uplifting
and still be uplifting. What’s uplifting is the
communication. That’s what excites people. The
message, or the words, or the specifics of what
the song says is secondary. It’s the recognition
of the emotion that people find uplifting and
exciting. It’s the feeling of sharing that same
emotional experience.”
Whatever Springsteen gives his audience,
they return to him tenfold. “A lot of times I’m
out there for me,” he said. “I’m doing something
at night that I have to do for myself. Nobody
is going to demand that I play harder at night
that I myself would want to play. When I come
offstage, I know how I played and I know how
I feel. I get a feeling from playing I can never
get from anything else. It’s something inside.
It’s winning and losing on the inside all the time
– never from the outside. It’s a quiet, personal
thing. When you get a little success it can
confine you or it can give you more room. My

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Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

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DIGITAL EDITION

APR/MAY