Bruce Springsteen Sings ‘People Have the Power’ With Bono, Patti Smith

When Bono walked onstage at New York’s BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center on June 13 to present Bruce Springsteen with the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award, he began his speech by winding the clock back to 1975. He was 15 then.

“I was off to being very good at being no good, but then that August, Bruce Springsteen released Born to Run, and part of me stopped running,” said Bono, who’d been introduced by Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro. “In November, Patti Smith put out Horses. Wow. The next February, I witnessed Robert De Niro play Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. This blows my mind.”

Springsteen first entered U2’s orbit when he joined them to play “Stand By Me” at a Philadelphia stop on the Joshua Tree tour in 1987. It was the start of a close friendship that saw Bono induct Springsteen into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999, Bruce return the favor in 2005, many appearances at each other’s concerts, and now this presentation in front of a packed house at the Tribeca Film Festival. 

“American music let freedom ring to people in Europe and Africa and Asia,” Bono said. “Ray Charles was America, Johnny Cash was America, Aretha Franklin was America, Harry Belafonte was America. Bruce Springsteen is America. Bruce made poetry from the voices of the people, and set that poetry to music. We honor him tonight as musician and poet, and as an activist, and a patriot.”

He went on to explain that Bruce never went down the path of figures like Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Bob Dylan, and John Lennon by taking an acting role in a movie. “We honor him as a songster who’s also been making cinema this whole time,” he said. “Stick with me. ‘Screen door slams/Mary’s dress sways,’ ‘Men walking along the railroad tracks/Going someplace and there’s no going back/Highway patrol choppers coming up over the ridge/Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge,’ establishing shots. ‘I saw her standing on her front lawn, just a twirlin’ her baton/Me and her went for a ride, sir/And ten innocent people died.’ It’s the opening of Nebraska, but it’s Terrence Malick. A most cinematic figure.’” 

This most cinematic figure took the stage to screams of “Bruuuuce,” and sat down next to Bono for a brief conversation that touched on the legacy of Harry Belafonte, the lessons they learned from each other, and the tense political situation in America. Early on, Bono asked him how the country might find a way to come together. 

“It’s certainly one of the most divisive times that I’ve lived through since 1968 or the late Sixties,” Springsteen said. “America, as I said, when I was on the road, is a sacred argument. It’s not that people are supposed to be in agreement with each other all the time in the first place. It was born in disagreement. It’s a blessed, sacred argument that you’re supposed to be having every day with your fellow citizens and with your representatives. That’s just a part of the country that’s embedded in the country itself. The key to that is you have that argument while recognizing each other’s common humanity, and dignity, and that’s that is in short supply at the moment, from obviously the top of our administration on down.”

Later on, Bono recalled his effort, as part of his (RED) campaign, to coax Springsteen into placing his 2007 song “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” in a Gap commercial. Springsteen turned him down, but he regrets it today. “That was a big mistake,” Springsteen said. “I should have said yes. You have these songs that became your own personal favorites, but the audience doesn’t care if they hear them that much or not. That’s one of them. I love that song. Damit, I still think back, ‘Bono asked me if I should put that in a commercial on television. I should have fuckin’ done it. People would hear it like a hit.’ I have to apologize.”

When they were done speaking, Patti Smith came out with her longtime band member Tony Shanahan. “Tony and I would like to congratulate Bruce,” she said. “Also, send a salute to the Tribeca Film Festival, and to the legacy of Harry Belafonte. The most heartbreaking toll that war, disease, greed, and bigotry, all of these things, the greatest toll comes to the children. We would like to offer this song, dedicate it to the children globally. And maybe their suffering will be transformed into some kind of joy.”

As Bono and Springsteen looked on from the side of the stage, they played Smith’s 2004 song “Peaceable Kingdom.” Many in the audience expected to hear “Because the Night” next since Springsteen wrote most of the song in 1977, Patti Smith finished it, she turned it into a hit in 1978, they’ve played it together many times over the years, and Bono has also sang it with Springsteen. But they went instead for “People Have the Power.” Bono was initially offstage, and seemingly had no plans to join them, but Smith “summoned” him back out. It didn’t take long for a technician to scramble out and place a mic in his palm. 

The show ended with Springsteen alone on stage with an acoustic guitar. “I’m going to sing this for the lovely Pam Belafonte,” he said, “and my lovely wife.” What followed was a slow, tender rendition of “Land of Hope and Dreams.” Springsteen wrote the song during a much more peaceful period of world history back in 1999, but it’s become an anthem of optimism and inspiration throughout the tumult of the 21st century. It was the perfect way to wrap up.