Bruce Springsteen has hit headlines for his recent political statement, but that won’t stop The Boss.
In a new interview with nonprofit organization Home of the Brave, per Far Out Magazine, Springsteen explained why he is so committed to bringing politics into his music. “To me, music and politics, on some level, have always been intertwined because what is rock and roll or hip hop? It’s an expression of freedom.”
The “Thunder Road” singer remembered that he was in a local band when he first started voting in 1972. Even back then, he was performing in anti-Vietnam War demonstrations. “If you grew up in the 1960s, you grew up when music had a voice across the board; it came as part of what felt like your cultural responsibility.”
“If you had a platform, you used it, and you used it politically, and that was not controversial at the time. It was expected,” Springsteen explained.
Springsteen wants his music to “make you think about what it means to be an American, about what your responsibility to your community, to your country is.”
However, he doesn’t believe every musical artist has to share his political statements. “I’m not someone who necessarily believes that every artist has to be political,” he clarified. “People use culture and are culturally powerful in many ways.”
Last month, Springsteen defended the political message behind his recent Land of Hope and Dreams Tour. “I’m old now and I do what I want to do,” Springsteen told Rolling Stone in September. “This was the show I wanted to make, the story I wanted to tell.”
When asked if he was concerned about his political views losing fans, his sets frequently criticizing Trump, the singer understood their point of view.
“I’m sure there were people, and I’ve read things where people were vehement about the content of the show,” he admitted. “And that’s just the way the chips fall.”
