You can beat the drum so hard that people stop listening. I wanted to use my voice wisely and not expend it wastefully.

People see you onstage and, yeah, I'd want to be that guy.I want to be that guy myself very often.

You ask for your audience's investment in your music; you're in a relationship with them. And their relationship with the E Street Band is separate from whatever else I might do. I like the idea of us being something that people rely on.

I cut my bow from the wood of this tree of evil. Of this tree of good, I want a kiss from your lips.

Small unit democracy, I found early on, didn't work for me.

An audience is not brought to you or given to you; it's something that you fight for.

But the star thing I can live with. The music I can't live without. And that's how it lays out for me, you know. I got as big an ego and enjoy the attention.