(Cue a subtly soaring guitar while Little Steven quietly picks along.)
How about that folks, the great Nils Lofgren! You know, I’ve been at this a long time, this songwriting game—a long time. And some days it comes easy, some days it comes hard, and some days it don’t come at all. We all know what this is like, whether you’re slaving away down at the factory, commenting on A.V. Club articles, or writing songs on your guitar. We’re all just working people, working on making our passions and dreams come true. My dad and I didn’t always get along, but he taught me the value of hard work. He really did.
I’ve written plenty of songs, and I like to think some of them are pretty good.
(The audience roars: “Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce”)
But sometimes—sometimes you have to kill your darlings. You put your sweat, your tears, and your heart down on that paper, and maybe it feels good, or maybe it doesn’t feel as good as you want it to. Maybe, it’s just not the right time for that song to be born, and you put it away, and hope that it catches up with you, or you catch up with it.
(A lonely saxophone note from Jake kicks in, as Patti strums her acoustic guitar in time.)
I’ve got a new book coming out on September 27 called Born To Run—you guys know that song, right?—full of epic stories about runaways and losers, some of whom you might know. I’ve got a companion album hitting shelves on September 23 titled Chapter And Verse to reflect the themes and sections of my words on the page. You know, sometimes music tells a story, but sometimes the story is the music. I think you guys might like it. It’s going to feature some of those darlings I had to kill, five songs that have remained unreleased to this day—songs I did with The Castilles and The Bruce Springsteen Band.
Do you want to hear them?
I don’t know Steve, it doesn’t sound like they want to hear them.
(Louder this time: “Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce!”)
That’s better, that’s better. Do you want to hear some unreleased songs!? One, two, three, four!