Bruce Springsteen talks to Elvis Costello about growing up as a Roman Catholic boy.
Words start at 7:00
Costello: We both were brought up Catholic, I believe.
Springsteen: Oh yeah.
Costello: In my case the Catholic guilt part, I used up a lot more of the guilt than the Catholic bit.
Springsteen: You did well with that.
Costello: I worked on that angle for a while.
I got to say, for a Protestant from east Belfast, Van Morrison has a lot of the Holy Ghost in him. It’s like: He can just go and I’ve seen him sing his own songs, I’ve seen him turn into the kind of abandon that you only see in the great R&B singers, the great blues singers.
Springsteen: There’s the religious element of “I need to be transformed”. For some reason you need to be transformed into something other than what you are. Catholicism is good for shooting at you, straight into your head.
But it’s a funny thing. I look back and I have a lot of harsh memories of my childhood. It was very strict religion at the time, etc. and blah, blah, blah.
But at the same time it was an epic canvas. And it gave you a sense of revelation, retribution, perdition, bliss, ecstasy. When you think that was being presented to you as a 5 or 6 year old child. I’ve been trying to write my way out of it ever since, you know.
Costello: I completely agree with you.
Springsteen: And it ain’t going to happen.