Bruce Springsteen Interview 2022

Infamous Rock journalist and internationally acclaimed interviewer Claude Balzac recently sat down for an in depth conversation with the legend and New Jersey icon, Bruce Springsteen.

Madhouse Magazine: Hi Bruce, Good to see you again. Thanks for chatting with me today.

Bruce Springsteen: My man Claude. You know I love Madhouse Magazine. The Greatest Rock n Roll Comedy Magazine in the World! I have been reading you for years. Back in the day I used to roll your magazine up to whack little Steven with when he got out of line. I also read it to my friends when I am hanging out on yachts with Oprah. Stedman would laugh so hard until milk came out of his nose.

Madhouse: Let’s start off with your childhood. You went to Catholic School as a boy, what did you think of your time there?

Bruce Springsteen: I loved it. The nuns really had a handle on things back then. They really knew the way to a child’s heart and mind. When I was in third grade, I was stuffed into a trash can under my desk, by a nun. She told me that that’s where I belonged. It was a wonderful lesson for me. It really helped me with my self esteem.

Fans

Madhouse: Your fans are very dedicated to you.

Bruce Springsteen: [laughs] Yes what a bunch of maroons. They still believe that crap about me being a regular blue collar New Jersey guy. I am worth $500 million dollars. How much are you worth? I hang out with Oprah, Hillary and Barack on yachts. I have a private jet and light my BBQ with $100 bills.

The Boss

Madhouse: What is your style as “The Boss”? Is the “E Street Band” a democracy?

Bruce Springsteen: No, no way. A band cannot run as a Democracy. I tried that in the beginning but it wasn’t working. I had to make a stand, so I declared “I’m The Boss”! There was some grumbling in the beginning, so I took Steven Van Zandt and made an example out of him. I made him pull down his pants in front of everyone and I whipped him on the nads with a car antenna. No one said a word after that. I still keep that car antenna in the studio, just as a reminder and a warning.

Little Steven

Madhouse: You recently wore a Steven Van Zandt costume. It was quite unflattering.

Bruce Springsteen: [laughs] Oh Yeah man, he was getting too big for his britches, I needed to humiliate him and bring him back to Earth. I put on a fat suit, prosthetics and that ridiculous babushka. It was hysterical. I find if I keep Steven in line the rest will follow. It’s like in those prison movies where they say to pick the biggest guy and punch him in the face and no one else will mess with you. But I would go after the other guys as well. I would throw batteries at them, shoot them with staple guns. One night in Sweden, Weinberg tried to upstage me by twirling his sticks. I took Max and slammed the piano down on his hands multiple times. The next night, I stuck Max’s hands in liquid nitrogen and duct taped the sticks to his hands. Try twirling them now big shot. Weinberg had to have seven operations on his hands. He never tried to upstage me again.

Remembering Clarence Clemons — Bruce Springsteen Born To Run Illustration By Paul King Art

Madhouse: What were your thoughts on Michael Jackson?

Bruce Springsteen: I met him once and he was a real nice guy. We had a nice visit, we talked about music and The Honeymooners. It got a little weird later when Bubbles came out dressed in lingerie. I got out of there real quick after that.

Madhouse: You managed to avoid the pratfalls of drugs. Which isn’t easy in the world of Rock n Roll. What’s your secret?

Bruce Springsteen: Well I was never really a big drug guy. I drink a little, I enjoy a cocktail now and then. I like a little Meth once in a while, some Angel Dust, Heroin, it helps me relax.

Born in the USA

Madhouse: It’s the 35th Anniversary of “Born in the USA” what do you remember about that time?

Bruce Springsteen: Did you know ”Cover Me” was originally written as a disco song for Donna Summer? The original title was “Cover Me With Your Love Goo”. My manager, Jon Landau, told me to keep it for myself and change the title. Good advice, as the song was a top 10 single!

Madhouse Magazine: We also heard a rumor about the Born in the USA album cover.

Bruce Springsteen: Ha you probably mean about my butt. Well, it’s true. I had a butt double. The photo for the album cover taken by Annie whatshername, I can never remember her name. Is her name Leibowitz or Leibovitz or Lipschitz? Anyway, that’s not my butt on the cover. It’s Steven Van Zandt’s butt, who happened to work his way through college as a successful butt model. He also spent a lot of time in the bath houses downtown doing god knows what.

Madhouse: How did you avoid going to Vietnam? Why weren’t you drafted?

Bruce Springsteen: I was 4F. I have brain damage. When I was a boy I had a concussion. I was kicked by a mule and then fell down a well.

4th of July, Asbury Park

Madhouse: What is this we heard about you killing someone?

Bruce Springsteen: Ha people are making a big deal about this. It’s not a big deal. So what, I killed someone a long time ago. It wasn’t even a real person, It was a homeless guy. It was back in the early 1970’s. I was walking along the train tracks in Asbury Park NJ on July 4th, and came across a drifter. He was a hobo, complete with all his belongings in a handkerchief on a stick. A real boxcar Willie. I had always wanted to kill someone and felt this was a perfect opportunity. I picked up a stick and beat him about the head and shoulders, then threw his body down an embankment. It felt great. I went home and masturbated furiously and then wrote the song ‘Sandy’ about the event. I later read that they charged another drifter with the murder. It worked out great. I ended up with a great song, and some other schlemiel is still in jail for the crime.