Bruce Springsteen Talks 50 Years In Music, European Tour, ‘Wrecking Ball,’ More In First Major Interview In Almost A Year

Bruce Springsteen conducted his first interview in nearly a year and discussed his European tour, 50 years in the music business and more with Rolling Stone.

Here are some excerpts from the interview, which Springsteen gave during shows in Europe:

 "You talk a lot about the 'we.' What about the 'me' feeling, the life force for you? You've been doing this since the mid-Sixties.

It's actually 50 years next year [laughs].

 Doesn't that seem extraordinary to you?

I'm not sure I envisioned it at the time. When I started, I was 14 and 1/2. I remember there was a circle of guys on the beach every Sunday. I said, 'I'd just like to play well enough to sit in that circle. All I want to do is play well enough so on a particular Sunday, I can sit in that circle of guys and play along.' It was 19 or 20 guys. They'd play 'La Bamba,' "Twist and Shout.'

Guitars and bongos?

That's all it was, on the main beach in Manasquan [New Jersey]. Then I'd go see bands. I'd watch the guy who stood in the back, the rhythm-guitar player. 'I'd just like to be that guy. I'd just like to be there - know some chords, give me my spot. Let me be good enough just to be a part of it.' That was my dream.

And I followed it. And it turned into a life, one I wouldn't have had the courage to imagine when I was young. But piece by piece...So now, it doesn't seem strange that I have been doing it for 50 years.

It's what I do. And what do I do? I live to do it for you one more time [laughs]. That's what seems natural to me. What I can't imagine is not doing that. That's your primary life force. I go back home after a tour, what am I thinking about? 'What story needs to be told? What do I have to say of urgency to a 15-year-old kid, or a 70-year-old guy, out there?'

That is an appetite. It's like breathing. It's not something I have to work on. And it doesn't strike me as work. It's just an adventure. I'm always looking for that next line, that next song.

It's the old Dylan line: 'He who is not busy being born...' I live by that one a lot."