The Song That Changed Bruce Springsteen’s Life: Reflections, Remembrance, and the Enduring Power of Rock ’n’ Roll

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In the world of music, few artists have carved a legacy as deep and enduring as Bruce Springsteen. With a career spanning more than five decades, “The Boss” has become synonymous with the American spirit—its hopes, heartbreaks, and hard-won dreams. But even legends have origin stories, and for Springsteen, the journey from a small-town kid in Freehold, New Jersey, to global superstardom began with a handful of chords, a borrowed guitar, and a song that changed his life forever.

Recently, in a candid and wide-ranging interview, Springsteen sat down to reflect on the music that shaped him, the band that became his family, and the memories—both sweet and bittersweet—that inspired his acclaimed album “Letter to You.” What emerged was not just a portrait of an artist, but a meditation on time, friendship, and the transformative power of song.

A Night of Nostalgia and Laughter

The interview took place not in a sprawling studio, but in the intimate confines of Studio 6A—a space steeped in television history and memories for Springsteen and his host, comedian Jimmy Fallon. The two shared an easy camaraderie, swapping stories about their previous musical collaborations, including an impromptu performance where Fallon was called upon to play the spoons with Springsteen’s Sessions Band.

“Do you know how to play the spoons?” Springsteen had once asked a starstruck Fallon, who, in his excitement, sprinted to the commissary to find utensils for the gig. The memory brought laughter all around, setting the tone for an interview that would move fluidly between humor and heartfelt reflection.

The Songs That Shaped a Life

As the conversation turned to Springsteen’s latest record, “Letter to You,” Fallon asked about the music that inspired its creation. Springsteen’s answer was both revealing and poetic.

“I always liked music where the singer sounded happy and sad simultaneously,” he explained. “I wrote about this a little bit in my memoir. I always loved The Drifters—‘Saturday Night at the Movies,’ ‘Up on the Roof,’ ‘Under the Boardwalk.’ For some reason, the singer always sounded hopeful, resigned. Like he had his spirit, but sad at the same time, and you felt the whole world open up to you.”

This tension—between joy and melancholy, hope and resignation—has defined Springsteen’s songwriting for decades. It’s the thread that runs through classics like “Thunder Road,” “The River,” and “Born to Run.” And it’s what gives “Letter to You” its emotional punch.

“If you’re lucky enough to be able to write one or a small group of them,” Springsteen said, “and ‘Letter to You’ kind of strikes that balance. And it’s a record I’m really proud of. I’m proud of the writing and the playing on it.”

Loss, Memory, and the Making of “Letter to You”

But behind the new album lies a story of loss and remembrance. Springsteen revealed that the original inspiration for the record was the death of a close friend—one of the members of his very first band.

“I had a close friend of mine who was in my very first band, and he passed away a couple of years ago in the summertime,” Springsteen recalled. “I went down and saw him before he died. And I came back and it just sat with me.”

That grief found its way into the song “Last Man Standing,” and, more broadly, into the spirit of the entire album. “I ended up being the last living member of the first band that I was ever in,” Springsteen said. “And there’s something about that… I was in a band that lasted for three years with teenagers. That’s very, very unusual—from 1965 to ’68, from when I was 15 to when I was 18, it was the same guys from high school in the same band. And so—it was my entire school of rock. Every basic lesson that I learned, I learned in that band—the beginnings of performing, how to put a show together, the beginnings of your writing, everything. Everything began during those three years with that band.”

For Springsteen, those formative years were not just about music, but about growing up during a turbulent time in American history. “1965 to ’68, you know, it was just tumultuous. And so it was a very, very memorable part of my life. Some of the songs were set a little bit in that time period—I went back and thought about what it was like to play in the Elks Club, the Firemen’s Fair, the Union Hall, in front of the drive-in movies, before the movie stars, the VFW hall, and all those sort of very definitive but small gigs that you play when you’re just learning your chops and your way.”

The First Song: “Greensleeves” and “Twist and Shout”

Every musician has a first song, and for Springsteen, it was the folk classic “Greensleeves.” “The first song I ever learned was a song called ‘Greensleeves,’” he said, drawing laughs from the audience. “It was a folk song. The first thing I had was a big book of American folk music. And so I learned that first because it only had two chords. And then eventually I made my way to the third chord, which allowed you to play ‘Twist and Shout.’”

It was at the Elks Club in Freehold, New Jersey, that a 15-year-old Springsteen first took the stage. “I went in about a month ago just to see if the room was still there that I first played in. They redesigned the inside of it, so it wasn’t recognizable at this point. But they had a nice little bar downstairs…” he joked.

He remembered the early days vividly: “You played on Sunday, 35 cents to get in. There was a room about this size and there was a circle—the bands would set up in a circle, and every band would play about three songs, then the next band would play three or four or five songs, and the next band would play for a little bit. And all the bands were playing for free, you know. Maybe there was less than 100 kids there, but it was an amazing place to kind of start out. And I remember—the only thing I remember most is I got up and I sang ‘Twist and Shout,’ and I’ve been singing it ever since.”

The Power and Pain of Enduring Friendship

As the interview continued, Springsteen reflected on the unique bond he shares with the E Street Band—a group that has remained remarkably intact for nearly half a century.

“Rock ’n’ roll music is the only job in the world where, imagine this—the people you went to high school with, the very same people 50 years later, you’re working with those same people. Those exact same people, and you’ve been with them every day since. So there is no other job in the world where that occurs. It only occurs in a rock ’n’ roll band, and it’s only even expected to work out there. It’s no surprise that most bands break up. I mean, how could you not, really?”

But for Springsteen and his bandmates, the shared history has been a source of strength and inspiration. “We’ve kind of prioritized the life and spirit of the band above some of our own personal grudges and our own things that we got against this guy and he’s got against you, you know. All those things are there, but we’ve managed to transcend them in a lovely way at this point in time.”

The Role of Storytelling

Springsteen’s gift as a storyteller has only deepened over the years, especially after his acclaimed run on Broadway.

“The thing about Broadway was—it really got me deep into the storytelling. Most of the night was really spoken word and then I’d play a song for a little bit and then speak again. That particular show got me thinking about the whole arc of my life from when I was a kid to now, and the series of projects started with me writing a memoir and a Broadway show, and then to some degree, the music that’s come after it also has been a part of just taking a look at where I’ve been, what I’ve done, where I’m at now.”

Capturing the Magic: Filming the Band

For years, Springsteen avoided filming his band, fearing it would somehow break the spell. “I regretted not filming the band when we were young because I was superstitious. And I believed that the magician should not look too closely at his magic trick, you know? And so I didn’t want to really—I didn’t want to see the band. Everything was going so well. I said it can only screw everything up. So we didn’t film a lot when we were younger.”

But as time passed, Springsteen changed his mind. “As we’ve gotten a little bit older now, I try to film mostly everything we do. We get some sort of footage on, and the documentary for this record came up just like that. I just have a filmmaking partner. Thom Zimny is the director. I said, ‘Thom, just come down and film what happens, you know, just come down and shoot what happens.’ And then we start there. We start with just the basic—started with just the band learning the songs and then playing the songs and then listening to the songs. And then we sort of add tone pieces, which were sort of me just meandering.”

The result was a documentary that captured not just the making of “Letter to You,” but the enduring spirit of a band—and a friendship—that has weathered the storms of time.

The Song That Changed Everything

If there is one song that stands as a turning point in Springsteen’s life, it’s “Twist and Shout.” That first performance, in a room of fewer than a hundred teenagers, was the spark that ignited a lifelong love affair with music. It was the moment when a shy kid from Freehold discovered the joy of performance, the thrill of connection, and the possibility of dreaming big.

But Springsteen is quick to point out that every song, every show, every friend lost and found, has played a part in shaping the man and the artist he has become. “It’s about—a life in music, you know, and it’s about the music itself and the role it plays in people’s lives, the role that it’s played in my life. And it’s a bit summational as a record like that, you know?”

Dreaming Big, Together

As the interview drew to a close, Fallon played a clip from the “Letter to You” documentary—a moment that captured the magic of the E Street Band in full flight. “The E Street Band makes me dream, think, and write big,” Springsteen said in the film. “When I am amongst my friends, I allow a certain part of my mind that seems to be reserved for only them, to be set free, and I dwell in a house of a thousand dreams.”

It’s a sentiment that resonates far beyond the walls of Studio 6A, or even the concert halls and stadiums where Springsteen has played. It speaks to the universal power of music—to heal, to inspire, to unite. It’s a reminder that, for all of us, there is a song that changes everything—a song that opens the world and shows us who we are, and who we might become.

For Bruce Springsteen, that journey began with “Greensleeves,” found its fire in “Twist and Shout,” and continues, five decades on, with every note he sings. And for all those who have ever found solace, strength, or joy in his music, the story is far from over. The song goes on.