2021-08-18 SiriusXM Studio, New York City, NY

Scheduled: 10:00 Local Start Time 09:59 / End Time 11:08

Info | Venue

The 'From My Home to Yours' series continues with Episode 26, themed "My Hometown".

E Street Radio

Bruce Springsteen

My Hometown

Hello, folks, friends, gals and pals, listeners from coast to coast and around the world. Welcome to Volume 26 of "From My Home to Yours", titled "My Hometown".

That was Neko Case, born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1970, September 8th. And what a voice she has. There is something in the very directness of that voice that makes her stand out from her contemporaries, and she is one of my favorite singers.

Now, as I say in my Broadway show, most folks have ambivalent feelings about their hometowns. There's love and hate and pride and shame. So during this show, we're going to listen to a variety of outstanding artists and their take on where they come from. Now, no show on your roots would be complete without this one from my buddy, John Mellencamp.

That was "Small Town" by John Mellencamp, and we're coming up on "(Hell's) My Wife's Home Town", by the only man with the balls to sing that one, Bob Dylan.

That was, of course, The Pogues, with the immortal Shane MacGowan on vocals, singing the classic "Dirty Old Town". Coming up now, "Devil Town" by Daniel Johnston.

That was "Death to My Hometown", by yours truly. And before that, "Devil Town" by Daniel Johnston. Daniel Johnston was an American artist regarded as a significant figure in the outsider, lo-fi and alternative music scene. He suffered from bipolar disorder and spent some time in psychiatric institutions. His music had a purity and an unaffected innocence that made it quite unique. And he was also a visual artist. His work was shown in galleries around the world. He died in 2019 in what was suspected to have been a heart attack. Daniel Johnston, "Devil Town". And this is Eric Church, with "Give Me Back My Hometown".

That was Eric Church with "Give Me Back My Hometown", and this is "Detroit Made", by that great voice, Bob Seger.

That was the lovely summer song, "Small Town Girl", by my pal, John Cafferty. They are out of, of course, Narragansett, Rhode Island, I believe. John's career began in the 1970s. He had some major success with the soundtrack for the "Eddie and the Cruisers" pictures. That album went triple platinum. So congratulations on that, Johnny, and thank you for that beautiful song. Here's Morgan Wallen, with "More Than My Hometown".

Well, that voice, that was Dierks Bentley with the beautiful "Home", written by Dierks Bentley and Dan Wilson.

I wrote this next song after driving by the J.J. Newberry's on Main Street in Freehold and seeing my own self-portrait, bandana included, painted in black velvet with Bruce Lee to my left and a German Shepherd to my right, in their own individual paintings, and I had to go in and buy one. So I did, and I came home, and I hung it up in my hall, waiting for folks to come in and get the joke. And nobody did. And so it goes. Here's "Local Hero".

That was "Local Hero". God forgive me, because this is the life I have chosen. And that was the E Street Band, live in Leeds, with our auxiliary E Streeters front and center, our great horn section and our great singers. This is Kane Brown.

That was the beautiful "My Little Town", by Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Here's my friend and neighbor, Johnny Bon Jovi with Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland, and "Who says you can't go home?".

And that is yours truly with "My Hometown", written in Los Angeles, California, in 1983, during some sessions in my garage studio in the aftermath of Nebraska, and before Born in the U.S.A. This was shortly after my 1982 road trip west with my road buddy Matt Delia. I spent a good portion of that winter in a Hollywood cottage, up towards Laurel Canyon, the previous home of Sidney Toler, star of the Charlie Chan films. And I wrote quite a bit up there, and a lot of still unreleased music, someday to see the light of day, I'm sure.

Anyway, that's our show. I wanna say, God bless you and your hometown. And until we meet again, I want to congratulate the United States Olympic show jumping team — that's McLain Ward, Laura Kraut and my lovely daughter, Jessica Springsteen — on their silver medal win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. A special shout-out to my great friend and one of the kings of show jumping, Nick Skelton, for his guidance and inspiration. May all of your days forever be glorious.

^{By Bruce Springsteen via E Street Radio.}