Springsteen: Silence Is Unpatriotic -- Answers Critics Who Say His Anti-War Album Is Unpat

Springsteen: "Silence Is Unpatriotic" -- Answers Critics Who Say His Anti-War Album Is Unpatriotic

www.cbsnews.com

Bruce Springsteen is an artist in progress, having moved from stories about girls and cars to populist ballads that echo the dust bowl days of Woody Guthrie. Springsteen has put all that together now in his first tour with the E Street Band in four years. As correspondent Scott Pelley reports, he has returned to full-throated rock and roll, and a message that's sharper than ever, damning the war in Iraq, and questioning whether America has lost its way at home.

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[edit on 28-7-2008 by GoldenFleece]

I couldn't have been more proud to hear Bruce Springsteen say what he did on 60 Minutes. Springsteen is the personification of the word patriot, while interviewer Scott Pelley sounded confrontational and seemed annoyed listening to him criticize what the neocons have done to America. When Springsteen mentions vote fraud, torture, illegal wiretapping and the loss of habeas corpus for destroying American ideals, Pelley remarks that his album will be seen as anti-war and people will say "Bruce Springsteen is no patriot."

(CBS) The music that emerged from his upbringing was a kind of blue collar ballad set to rock and roll, Elvis meets Dylan, uniquely Springsteen. Much of the new music is a protest. Some of it blunt, as in the song that asks "Who will be the last to die for a mistake," but most of it subtle, like "Long Walk Home," the story of a man who returns to his all-American small town but doesn’t recognize it anymore.

"What's on your mind? What are you writing about?" Pelley asks.

"I guess I would say that what I do is I try to chart the distance between American ideals and American reality. That's how my music is laid out. It's like we've reached a point where it seems that we're so intent on protecting ourselves that we're willing to destroy the best parts of ourselves to do so," Springsteen says.

Asked what he means, Springsteen tells Pelley, "Well, I think that we've seen things happen over the past six years that I don't think anybody ever thought they'd ever see in the United States. When people think of the American identity, they don't think of torture. They don't think of illegal wiretapping. They don't think of voter suppression. They don't think of no habeas corpus. No right to a lawyer … you know. Those are things that are anti-American."

"You know, I think this record is going to be seen as anti-war. And you know there are people watching this interview who are going to say to themselves, 'Bruce Springsteen is no patriot,'" Pelley remarks.

"Well, that's just the language of the day, you know? The modus operandi for anybody who doesn't like somebody, you know, criticizing where we've been or where we're goin'," Springsteen says. "It's unpatriotic at any given moment to sit back and let things pass that are damaging to some place that you love so dearly. And that has given me so much. And that I believe in, I still feel and see us as a beacon of hope and possibility."

Springsteen sees himself following a long American tradition reaching back through Vietnam and on to the Great Depression.

"There's a part of the singer going way back in American history that is of course the canary in the coalmine. When it gets dark, you're supposed to be singing. It's dark right now," Springsteen says. "And so I went back to Woody Guthrie and Dylan and the people who said, say take Pete Seeger, who wants to know, doesn't want to know how this song sounds, he wants to know what's it for."

"What needs to be said, in this country at this moment, in your opinion, what needs to be said?" Pelley asks.

"I think we live in a time when what is true can be made to seem a lie," Springsteen says. "And what is a lie can be made to seem true. And I think that the successful manipulation of those things have characterized several of our past elections. That level of hubris and arrogance has got us in the mess that we're in right now. And we're in a mess. But if we subvert, the best things that we're about in the name of protecting our freedoms, if we remove them, then who are we becoming, you know? Who are we, you know? The American idea is a beautiful idea. It needs to be preserved, served, protected and sung out. Sung out on a nightly basis. That's what I'm going to try to do."

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[edit on 28-7-2008 by GoldenFleece]

He's THE BOSS for crying out loud!!! Quite possibly one of the most patriotic American musicians ever, and these a$$hats want to drag his name through the mud for calling them out on their crimes!

Total BS!!!

We should all take a lesson from Mr. Springsteen, and step out from beneath our veil of silence to let our voices be heard in the White House and the Capital!

reply to post by keeb333

Good for BRUCE!! Most of America is silent and sits at home watching CSI. We need more guys like him to stir the pot! Most of America is sick of the war but they are more concerned about keeping a home and a tank of gas as of late. Now the MSM says "We are winning the war".......WTF does that mean? Bring home most of the troops and I will believe that crap!.

reply to post by GoldenFleece


Springsteen needs to "shut up and sing". What makes him an expert at world affairs?

reply to post by mabus325

Shut up and sing?


SPEAK UP AND SING AND SPREAD THE WORD IS WHAT A MAN DOES, A PATRIOT AND I THANK HIM DEEPLY FOR "SINGING" FOR ME!!!!!!

GOD BLESS THE MAN, THE BOSS, THE MOUTHPIECE THIS COUNTRY NEEDS WITHOUT BEING A FRIGHTENED LITTLE MOUSE.

Now where are the rest of the people with huevos???
I didnt think so.

3...2....1 till the gov lovers and war-mongers start up with the, "He's a lib traitor, america-hater" nonsense.

And he's absolutely right with his statements, but you'd never know it with the folks around here constantly launching their personal attacks as described above.

The true patriot does not follow blindly under any circumstance, the way these people try to bully folks into thinking.

Gotta admit.. He's more American than apple pie and guns.

Something gotta be wrong when even he's feeling disillusioned with the GoodOle US of A.

(Was here Gateshead stadium 85 June 5th..Born in the USA tour. I Was second row in front of Clarence Clemence.Woooo gogogo.
Boy is Max Weinberg loud!!!!. )

reply to post by dgtempe


I could care less what he says. He's just a singer.

Well if Bruce says so, I must reform my ways! .. Afterall, it would be unpatriotic not to believe Bruce..

Hells, we might as well crown Bruce King, since it's is moral guidance we need to ensure we are patriotic American's with just cause.

Bruce speaking of politics, is like Britney Spears telling American's how to be good parents.

An American patriot defends the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. An American traitor betrays those bedrock principles. If you know the contents of those documents, there is no question who is who.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that amongst these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter, or abolish it." The Declaration of Independence

Well I guess some people would rather not listen to a guy because he's just a singer. So being a singer is an automatic disqualification to having an opinion. Even if that opinion supports and defends the constitution.

Laughable.

Springsteen has been singing protest songs and criticising US policies (home and abroad) for decades. What do you think Born in the USA is about? Iraq is just more topical. He says what he believes. Patriotism doesn't mean blindly agreeing with everything

And did anyone complain about him singing songs about 9/11?

Personally I reckon Last to Die is the best thing he's done in years.

btw Roulette was written back in the late 1970s ..... how appropriate are those lyrics for 2008?

reply to post by Essan


I never said he didn't have the right to speak, All I am saying is I don't care about his opinion.

Originally posted by mabus325
reply to post by Essan

 

I never said he didn't have the right to speak, All I am saying is I don't care about his opinion.

And I don't particularly care about yours, or Rush, or Savage, or Sean or anyother of the authority worshiping mouthpieces for the GOP.

You know what they say about opinions...

It must be frightening for the true believers, to see a man of the people
telling it like it is.

[edit on 28-7-2008 by whaaa]

Why can't a celebrity have, and voice, their opinion? Hell, he was being interviewed...to hear his thoughts and opinions I would assume. Tons of grass roots orginizations and political activists would love the easy and immense exposure.

Never mind that though; public figures are only supposed to interact with their fellow citizens when their bits fall out of place.

Originally posted by mabus325
reply to post by Essan

 

I never said he didn't have the right to speak, All I am saying is I don't care about his opinion.

And we don't care about yours either.

Originally posted by spines
Why can't a celebrity have, and voice, their opinion? Hell, he was being interviewed...to hear his thoughts and opinions I would assume. Tons of grass roots orginizations and political activists would love the easy and immense exposure.

Never mind that though; public figures are only supposed to interact with their fellow citizens when their bits fall out of place.

I agree

It's sad to see so many people say things to our musicians like "Shut up and sing" Which is an oxymoronic statement anyway.

Singers have always been the mouth piece of the people. Their job IS to highlight these issues.

Utah Phillips, Guthrie, Springsteen

Folks like this have always called our our government when it gets out of hand.

And to think, we are actually a nation which is based on calling out a government which gets out of hand, and NOW this is seen as unpatriotic?

Unpatriotic was, and IS anyone who sits silently by while others take up arms against an oppressive regime.

The arms that singers take up are their words and their songs. So if someone has a problem with this guy then by definition they are unpatriotic.

I still remember Reagan using "Born in the USA" in a political way. You could tell by the context Reagan used it in he'd maybe heard the chorus but was clueless to what the song was about.

I'll admit I'm a bit of a hypocrite in my view on celebrity political opinions. I could care less about what actors say about politics or war. However, I love music that is political in nature. Some of my favorite songs: "Fortunate Son", "Copperhead Row","Bulls on Parade","Man in Black","One".

Originally posted by Quazga

Utah Phillips, Guthrie, Springsteen

and let's not forget Dylan.

Usually the artistic community is pretty much apolitical, but when a popular movement starts to be expressed to mass audiences, the PTB
start to listen to the people and quickly climb on the Peace Train and say
"who me? Naw, I was on your side all the time"

Hypocrites!!! You can see it already starting here on ATS.