Springsteen: My lifelong battle with mental illness
ROCK star Bruce Springsteen has told how mental illness “swept through” his family and how depression still has a powerful effect on his life.
Bruce Springsteen has told of his battle with mental illness. Rare photo with father (left)
He also described how his difficult relationship with his father has influenced his music.
“There was just a lot of illness that ran through my family, on the Irish side in particular, but even somewhat on the Italian side also,” the singer told Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs.
“Depression, mental illness, just swept through my family and kind of gets passed on down. It was more difficult for my Pop and for a lot of the other members of my family who have suffered from it a lot but I’ve had to deal with it at times.
“It’s usually OK, then once in a while Churchill’s black dog jumps up and bites you. I’ve developed some skills that help me deal with it but still it’s a powerful, powerful thing.”
The rock star has had a difficult relationship with his father which has influenced his music
Bruce, 67, grew up in New Jersey in a close-knit community. His hits such as Born To Run are a favourite with blue-collar workers.
Depression, mental illness, just swept through my family
He said: “A lot of my work is drawn from a period of my life where I’m trying to go back and make sense of things that at the time were unfathomable.
“My dad had a gruff exterior but inside he could be quite soft and sensitive. There was a terrible cross-current of emotion that went on between us. We sorted through some of it as he got older and I got older but it was sad when I was young.”
His castaway tracks included Hound Dog by Elvis Presley, his book was a biography of folk singer Woody Guthrie and his luxury item a guitar.
●Desert Island Discs is on BBC Radio 4 today at 11.15am