How Bruce Springsteen saved Barack Obama, thanks to Michelle Obama
Former US President Barack Obama has revealed that his wife, Michelle, advised him to spend more time with Bruce Springsteen in order to reflect on his 'failings and flaws'. During a CBS interview, Obama said that his wife told him "you need to spend more time with Bruce", while he was still getting to know singer-songwriter, Bruce Springsteen. Michelle had told him, "You know, he understands all his failings and flaws as a man, and you don't seem to understand as well just exactly how messed up you are."
Michelle and Barack Obama met in 1989 while they were working at a law firm in Chicago. They married three years after they met. In a September 2020 episode of 'The Michelle Obama Podcast', Michelle had spoken about her marriage to the 44th president. "There were times that I wanted to push Barack out of the window. And I say that because it’s like, you’ve got to know the feelings will be intense," Michelle had said. "But that doesn’t mean you quit. And these periods can last a long time. They can last years."
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Springsteen and Obama are now all set to produce a podcast and forthcoming book -- 'Renegades: Born in the USA' -- in which both of them have reflected on how they see themselves as outsiders. The book will be released on Tuesday, October 26. While Springsteen said that several people are likely to be left feeling disaffected by technological and social changes, Obama has claimed that change is happening 'too fast' for many in the US.
"And Donald Trump was, you know, he had the cynicism and the carny ability to play on that part of our weakness, you know? I think we're going to be in a lot of trouble if you can't find a way to engage a lot of people who feel disaffected. Whether it's by technological change, whether it's by the post-industrialization," Springsteen said. Obama said, "Bruce is right. You end up having, on the one hand, change happening very rapidly, too rapidly for a big portion of the population. For another portion of the population, it's like, 'You know, how long are we gonna keep having to defer this dream?' And I think that part of what we tried to do in the podcast was get everybody to feel a little more willing to recognize, you know, our own faults."
The idea of 'critical patriotism' was peddled by Springsteen. He claimed that this was the theme of 'of his 1984 hit 'Born in the USA', which was about a Vietnam veteran who returns home to very few opportunities and dismal circumstances. "I had 'Born in the USA.,' which — a song I wrote. And that was misinterpreted on a variety of different levels because it basically put forth the idea that you can love and feel a part of the same country that you can be deeply critical of, and feel has disappointed you on a variety of different levels," he said.
Springsteen told CBS that he hopes to keep making new music. "I'm gonna make a better record and play better tour, play better shows. So that's always there for me," he said.