Bruce Springsteen has been a successful figure in the music industry for about six decades now, so it’s not exactly surprising that The Boss has some good advice for both musicians and anyone who wants to get ahead in life. Let’s take a look at some words of wisdom that Springsteen has dished out through the years!
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1. Cherish The People You Love
Bruce Springsteen has always been forthright about his belief that family and friends are everything. He always spoke lovingly about Clarence Clemons, the famed saxophone player heard on “Born To Run” who also happened to be a close friend of Springsteen. Clemons died in 2011.
“Together we told a story that was bigger than anything I had written in my song,” Springsteen said of Clemons after his death. “When he played, he whispered that story in my ear. And we carried it together for a long, good time. And losing him was like losing the rain.”
2. Music Heals Everything
This advice from Bruce Springsteen has been dished out by other musicians before, but it still rings true. Music really can heal most wounds; it’s the human condition, after all. Springsteen is no stranger to mental health struggles, which he outlined vulnerably and in detail via his 2016 memoir, Born To Run.
“I realized that the only time I felt complete and peaceful was while I was playing or shortly afterward,” Springsteen once said during a PBS interview. “I walk on stage, I play, I perform, I create, I write, and that’s sort of where that peace comes over me.”
3. Stop Taking Yourself So Seriously
It’s hard to not take yourself seriously as a musician, but Springsteen drove home the idea that life is what you make of it. And there’s plenty of joy to be had when you don’t take yourself so seriously.
Springsteen noted in his memoir that his image as The Boss wasn’t based in reality. It was a persona that he created as a revved-up version of himself. He also noted that a bit of self-deprecation is healthy.
4. Always Stay Focused
Clarence Clemons’ nephew, Jake Clemons, has been a part of the E Street for years now. And he once recalled some sage advice Bruce Springsteen had given him back in 2019. According to Clemons, Springsteen told him that you never really stop “earning” your place as a successful musician.
“So after 40 years of playing, he’s still earning it,” Clarence recalled. “This notion of when you go out there to do your thing, you’ve got to work for it like it’s the first time and you’ve got to want it every single time.”
Photo by Nathan Morris/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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