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Bruce Springsteen apologized for refusing Bono’s request to use his song “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” in a Gap commercial in support of his campaign to fight AIDS
“That was a big mistake,” Springsteen admitted
Bono presented the musician with the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award at Tribeca Film Festival on June 13
Bruce Springsteen admitted that not letting Bono license “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” for a Gap commercial years ago was a “big mistake.”
While presenting him with the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award at the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, June 13, the U2 frontman recalled Springsteen rejecting his request to include the 2008 song in a Gap commercial that was in support of RED, his and Bobby Shriver’s campaign to fight AIDS.
“I said, ‘Bruce, this song ‘Girls in Their Summer Clothes,’ this is like one of the great pop songs ever,’ ” Bono, 66, recalled. “He goes, ‘It’s not bad, is it?’ I said, ‘Would you think about using it for a commercial like for RED through Gap?’ You said, ‘No.’ ”
Thinking back to that moment, Springsteen, 76, admitted that his decision was a “big mistake” and apologized for refusing the opportunity.
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“That was a big mistake … I should have said yes,” Springsteen said. “That was just a song that I loved, and damn it, I still think back. I said, ‘Bono asked me to put this thing in a commercial on television, I should have f—ing done it, then people would hear it like a hit.’ So I have to apologize, I should have done that.”
In addition to Bono praising the musician for his ability to bring a Woody Guthrie sensibility to pop radio and having produced some “great” music over the years, Robert De Niro emphasized that Springsteen is also “a man who knows how to use his voice” to move people with the music he creates.
“He uses it to give voice to the powerless and uses it to lead the resistance,” he said before Springsteen was presented the award, honoring his efforts to advance equality, dignity and human rights. “He is fearless and direct.”
Bruce Springsteen and Bono of U2 performing in 2009
Credit: Theo Wargo/WireImage
Having used his platform to call out President Donald Trump’s “corrupt” administration in the past, Springsteen emphasized that “art has the chance to shape the culture because culture shapes politics. Culture and politics shape the nation.”
After receiving the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award, Springsteen performed an acoustic version of his 1999 song “Land of Hope and Dreams.”
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