Bruce Sprinsteen says that his childhood inspired his music.
The rocker explained that he grew up in a household that was filled with tension because of his father’s unemployment.
The Born In The USA star praised his mother for striving to support the family, but said his upbringing left a mark on him nonetheless.
“My experience growing up was that my mother was the primary breadwinner, she worked very hard every day. My father struggled to find work and I saw that was deeply painful and created a crisis of masculinity. Lack of work creates a loss in itself. Work creates an enormous sense of self. I saw this in my mother, she was an inspiring figure to me,” he told British newspaper The Mirror. “A house can turn into a minefield, it can be abusive in different ways and have tremendous emotional turmoil. I kind of lost him and I think a lot of the anger that surfaced in my music came out of that particular scene. I’m motivated by the issues of the day, but ultimately for the reason I ask questions, go back to the house I was brought up in.”
Bruce is currently promoting his new album Wrecking Ball, which he says is an attack on “fat bankers” and “robber barons”.
Despite a hugely successful career in music, the 62-year-old explained that his working class background never leaves him and forces him to continuously look at social influences.
The rocker added that he wants to inspire people to search their soul with his music and open their eyes to political and global issues.
“My job is to do for you what Bob Dylan did for me, kick open the door to your mind, reach for something higher than yourself and grovel around for something lower too. That’s the job: to be paid for something that can’t be bought. And I have no other skills whatsoever,” he said. “I always enjoyed artists who, one way or another, tried to take on the world and who were involved in events of the day.”
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