Throughout many decades Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan have been known for their poetic lyrics and music. And they are someone we can call the master of their crafts. We all know that these two have inspired many other musicians however, did you know that Bruce is one of the musicians who is hugely inspired by Dylan? well, now you do.
Bruce has revealed how important a role Dylan had in his songwriting during his early music career. Yes, although Springsteen grew up listening to The Beatles and loved them, it was Dylan who inspired him to create or write poetic songs. According to Bruce, Dylan’s style felt close to him and The Beatles’ style simply could not give him that feeling.
Bruce Springsteen says he owes him so much
Recently, Bruce appeared on The Howard Stern Show where he revealed how Dylan inspired him to write songs and how he owes him so much. In the show, Howard asked him why he owes Dylan so much and he replied that it is because Dylan is the foundation of his poetic lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07esmavAYyg
He said, “If you want to talk about lyrics, he was the foundation where a lot of, if you want to call it, the poetic side of my lyrics came from [sings ‘The Times They Are a-Changin’]. I just grew up and lived on that.” He further said, “I took the idea of the way he was some of the abstraction that he was taking in his lyrics, and I just brought it over into pop music, and rock and roll music, and adopted it as part of my writing style on my earliest records. From my first record, ‘Blinded by the Light,’ was, of course, me totally tripping on Bob Dylan.”
And this is not the only time Bruce has mentioned how much he owes Dylan. He has always talked about it and always given the credit for his poetic songwriting style to Dylan. Once he even pointed out that he would not have been “The Boss” if he did not get Dylan’s records when he was a teenager. Furthermore, not only has Bruce talked openly about how Dylan has inspired him but he has also expressed his gratitude toward him by covering several of Dylan’s songs including It’s All Over Now Baby Blue, I Want You, and Mr. Tambourine Man, and more.
Moreover, in the Howard show, they also talked about the time Bruce paid a tribute to Dylan by singing his song The Times They Are A-Changin back in 1997 at the Kennedy Center Honors. And remembering that time, Bruce said that it was Dylan who requested him to do that song. And certainly, since he was a big admirer of Bob who inspired him, he said that he wanted to “do a great job for him.”
Not only at the Kennedy Center Honors but back in 1988 when Bruce inducted Bob into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he paid a tribute to him when he was on stage. He said that when he heard Dylan’s voice when he was a kid, he was thrilled as well as scared.
