What took you so long?
Read on for EWs highlights from the evening.
But hes not funny as a presidential candidate.
Credit: Anna Webber/Getty Images
Though Springsteen predicted he will not win, he had a grim analysis of the consequences of Trumps candidacy.
I dont believe hes going to go gently into the good night.
I think the subversion of the idea of a democratic election is a very dangerous idea.
When you start telling people [that] unless you win, the election will be illegitimate.
So Im a little afraid of his lasting effect on the country.
Their concerns and their problems and their issues were never addressed by either party.
I completely understand why a voice like that would be appealing, he said.
You want to hear these kinds of solutions to your problems.
Unfortunately, theyre fallacious its a con job.
It was part of the cultural experience.
When Remnick asked Springsteen if he was pleased with Obamas accomplishments, he offered measured praise.
Im still a fan of President Obamas, he said.
Nevertheless, Springsteen concluded, I think hes going to be remembered as a good president.
This is my wifes question, and it has caused some complication in my marriage, Remnick began.
What is your workout routine?
Because this is ridiculous.
When the Boss responded, Its all mental, Remnick countered, Thats gotta be bulls.
But Springsteens offered an explanation that resonated with anyone who has ever grappled with mental illness.
Initially, music was the first way that I kind of mitigated my anxieties, Springsteen said.
I used it, being a good Catholic boy, as a purification ritual.
Performing was how he momentarily satiated his emotional pain.
I would say exhaustion is my friend, he continued.
And then youve gotta put a lot of energy into that thing.
Well, if youre too tired to do that, youre feeling better.
Its why the War on Drugs will never be successful, he added.
People need to lose themselves.
We can only stand so much of ourselves.
Youre young, youre a sponge, and youre obsessively determined, he said.
He went on, went on.
We were waiting to go on and then somebody came up and took him!
Early on, Remnick asked how long it took Springsteen to understand his father.
Fifty years, two psychiatrists one died already, Springsteen wryly responded.
But, as Springsteen acolytes intimately know, Doug loomed large in Bruces music in the intervening years.
My father had a deep influence over my stage persona, he said.
I was just looking to sing for him in some way.
That, of course, didnt work out exactly as planned.
It was an imperfect way to communicate with someone who you love, he concluded.
So one day I said, You know Barney the dinosaur?
Are you interested in Barney?
Well, people are interested in me in the same way.
They were pretty divorced from it.
And then, one day, Evan came home and said, Dad, whats Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out?'
Part of it is you have to notmindfeeling like youve been beaten up by a baseball bat!
Pain has to become your friend.
