Billboard.biz: "Rumble, young musicians, rumble," Springsteen told the crowd. "Open your ears and open your hearts. Don't take yourself too seriously, and take yourself as seriously as death itself. Don't worry. Worry your ass off. Have unclad confidence, but doubt. It keeps you awake and alert. Believe you are the baddest ass in town-and you suck! It keeps you honest. Be able to keep two completely contradictory ideals alive and well inside of your heart and head at all times. If it doesn't drive you crazy, it will make you strong.
Friday, March 16, 2012
SXSW Keynote: Bruce Springsteen Speaks to the Young Musicians and the Old Guard
Billboard.biz: "Rumble, young musicians, rumble," Springsteen told the crowd. "Open your ears and open your hearts. Don't take yourself too seriously, and take yourself as seriously as death itself. Don't worry. Worry your ass off. Have unclad confidence, but doubt. It keeps you awake and alert. Believe you are the baddest ass in town-and you suck! It keeps you honest. Be able to keep two completely contradictory ideals alive and well inside of your heart and head at all times. If it doesn't drive you crazy, it will make you strong.
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To read all these stories of Springsteen and how he was influenced by music growing up and how they helped him to shape his sound is really something great. Seeing how they helped him grow to be the artist and musician today is really something special. And I think it's really great how he talks about taking the exact riff from an Animals' song and using it in his own song. It really speaks to the fact that we observe and hear inspiration from all sorts of places, and creating something new is just the same as taking that very inspiration and using it in new ways. I also loved his complete contradictions about life. "Believe you are the baddest ass in town-and you suck!" I think it speaks to the fact that we all have our ups and downs, and it's not sticking to one or the other, it's about finding balance between the two. And that speaks volumes not just to how to create music, theater, art, or whatever it is you do, that's about how you live life, and it's talking about things like that I think really connect to people who are listening and trying to get through their own hardships and their own lives
I think it's funny that the quotes from Springsteen's speech in this article are almost all paradoxical-"don't take yourself too seriously, and take yourself as seriously as death itself"-yet they speak volumes to every young musician listening. I'm not the most familiar with Springsteen's music, but it's fascinating to see how many layers of influence there are to his music, which could so easily just be seen as "pop" or "rock" or "country" on the surface, when in fact it is so multifaceted and tells the story of Bruce's own musical childhood, not neglecting a single genre or artist. Springsteen also highlights just how many young people there are now in music compared to then, which makes the reader cognizant both of the effects of overpopulation, and just how much more free the youth has become. The 1960s could have lost a lot of potential music stars to the draft in the case of the men, or the confinements of domestic life and lack of opportunities in the case of women. Today, within reason, children grow up believing they can be whatever they wish to be, and in more cases than ever they are able to do so, which is great. That so many people succeed as musicians and artists (though many also fail) can only benefit the art itself and give us even more to learn from.
It seems like Springsteen's words of advice- to be sure of yourself and to question yourself all at the same time- can be helpful to all young people, not just young musicians. When I read that, though, I thought of Lady Gaga. Even in her big interview last night she talked about her insecurities, and yet when she takes to the stage she acts like the 25-year old legend she knows she is. Gaga is just one example of an artist who has been influenced by Bruce Springsteen's music and way of life. In fact, the number and variety of artists who have been influenced by Springsteen demonstrates one of the points he made in this speech- that music is now infinitely variable and can be created and enjoyed by all. This variety in music- and in the art world in general- is one of the things that allows us all to express ourselves as unique individuals. It's too bad that much of this variety is not reflected in main-stream popular culture, but Springsteen and SXSW are great examples of how people and programs can support variety and make many different kinds of music popular.
I think the most influential words anyone can give is to stay true to yourself and to your craft, especially when it's coming from someone who made a living off doing exactly that. Music, like theater, often times requires so much personal investment of your creativity and passion for a project, and it's important to keep that alive and thriving to keep the art form going. It's nice to see someone who inspires multiple generations speaking on the subject, and I'm sure people will listen and continue keeping the arts alive.
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