The former president and the singer-songwriter have shared their stories in a podcast, and now a book: « Renegades: Born in the USA. » They discuss the influence of their fathers on their life’s work, and the collective narratives in both popular music and politics.
A rock star and a former president hitting the road – if it looks like a buddy movie, well, it’s kind of become one. Driving a 1960 Corvette at the home of singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen was, said former President Barack Obama, « one of the highlights of my time on this farm… getting behind the wheel of this mean machine! » Correspondent Anthony Mason asked Springsteen, « How old were you when you got this? » « Twenty-five. » « And what did this mean to your life when you bought it? » « Everything! » he replied. « Because it was all I got out of my record deal when I was 25 years old, was this car, and I got a piano. » Mr. Obama said, « I will confess that the Secret Service, normally I’m good about alerting them, but… » « You just took off? » Mason asked. « Yeah, I just took off, and in the rearview mirror I could see some of my agents running behind! » he laughed. The friendship between the two men started in 2008: « Bruce Springsteen decided to charitably help out some not-very-well-known new U.S. senator who had the audacity to run for president, » Mr. Obama said. Over time, that friendship deepened, a friendship Mr. Obama once characterized like so: « I am the President. He is the Boss. » And last year, they sat down together for a couple of days at Springsteen’s New Jersey farm to talk about their lives, and our world. Those conversations became a podcast, and now a book: « Renegades: Born in the USA » (Crown). Mason said, « You describe the two of you as ‘a little sympatico.' » « I think Bruce, through his music, I tease him about how much better it is being a rock ‘n’ roll star than being a politician, » Mr. Obama said. « Which of course it is! » Springsteen laughed. « You do have the better deal, » Mason said. « He does not really deny it! » Mr. Obama said. « There is a certain sense of ministry to Bruce’s music. And his body of work is around these issues of, you know, ‘Who are we?' » Springsteen said, » That’s the question. » Like a minister, Springsteen exhorts concertgoers with language of a kind of faith: « We came here tonight because we want to build a house.… And when we build that house, we’re gonna use the bare wood, and we’re going to use the Good News that’s here tonight. » Springsteen told Mason, « What I do on any given evening when I’m doing my job well is, I create a space of common values and shared narrative. For three hours, we create that place. It exists somewhere. » Mr. Obama added, « And that power of storytelling is, you know, at its best, what good politics does as well, right? It says, ‘Here’s who we are. Here’s a common story we share.' » As presidential candidate Obama said in Philadelphia on March 18,2008: « I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible. » « You get a lot of nostalgia sometimes for ’50s and ‘Leave It to Beaver’ and picket fences, » Mr.
