Bruce Springsteen and Martin Scorsese on religion, films and creativity

By Lindsey Bahr

Other·

7 May, 2019 05:00 PM3 mins to read

Bruce Springsteen says his Catholic school upbringing and the films of Martin Scorsese have heavily influenced his music. Photo / AP

With a friendship going back to a fateful meeting at The Roxy in 1975, Bruce Springsteen and Martin Scorsese shared the stage in Los Angeles for a wide-ranging conversation about everything from their Catholic upbringings and maturing faith to Flannery O'Connor, concert documentaries and the role of an audience.

The Netflix-hosted event was in support of the Emmys campaign for Springsteen's one-man show Springsteen on Broadway.

An earnest Springsteen laughed at himself as he prepared to close out the evening with an acoustic performance of Dancing in the Dark saying that he was "here today begging complete strangers for votes".

But what better way to do so than with a nostalgic performance and a heartfelt chat about creativity and faith with one of the greatest living film-makers. And they got straight to the heavy stuff.

"All my work was informed by my years in Catholic school," Springsteen said to the intimate crowd of Emmy voters and press at the start. "All that redemption, damnation, all the Martin Scorsese films ... As I got older I stopped fighting against it. Now I draw on it and enjoy it. There's no greater well to draw on than myths of Catholicism. Everything is in there."

Scorsese responded that even his upcoming Netflix film, The Irishman, deals with the same thing, "Trust, loyalty, betrayal and faith."

The two said they both find inspiration in the stories of Flannery O'Connor and Springsteen said he's always found that, "the darkness is more interesting than the light".

He linked it to other artists he is drawn to, from Hank Williams, to Bob Dylan and Robert De Niro, who he said has a "two-hour face".

"It's, 'What's bothering that guy?'" Springsteen said. "That's why you can watch Bob De Niro's face for two hours, not 15 minutes. It never gives up its secrets."

Scorsese added that audiences are often looking for answers, but the art he goes back to is the kind that doesn't provide them, which they both found similar to how they experience faith as they mature.

The two eventually got around to discussing Springsteen on Broadway, which was born by accident, after President Barack Obama asked him to play at the White House in the last few weeks of his administration.

Springsteen dedicated his performance of Dancing in the Dark to his mother, who just turned 93 and is nine years into Alzheimer's and doesn't speak but she still loves to dance.