I was signed to a record label at the same time as my friend Elliot Murphy, who makes great records to this day.

The E Street band casts a pretty wide net. Our influences go all the way back to the early primitive garage music, and also, we've had everything in the band from jazz players to Kansas City trumpet players to Nils Lofgren, one of the great rock guitarists in the world.

I come from a boardwalk town where almost everything is tinged with a bit of fraud. So am I.

My dad had a very difficult life, a hard struggle all the time at work. I've always felt like I'm seeking his revenge.

In the early years, I found a voice that was my voice and also partly my father's voice. But isn't that what you always do? Why do kids at 5 years old go into the closet and put their daddy's shoes on? Hey, my kids do it.

The only thing I know as I get older is that I don't really need to be No. 1.

The songs themselves do broaden out as time passes and take on subtly different meanings, take on more meaning, I find.