Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain has taken aim at Bruce Springsteen, calling the rock legend an “annoying, bitter old man” over what Cain sees as the Boss bringing too much politics into his performances.
Cain, 76, made the comments during an appearance on the podcast The Complete Disaster Network. His remarks about Springsteen, also 76, come shortly after Mick Jagger criticized the rock icon for steering his material into more political territory.
“I used to be a Democrat back in the old days, but I couldn’t go there anymore, you know?” Cain said on the podcast. “I’m a diehard conservative.
“And guys like Bruce Springsteen should shut up. You know, really, honestly, shut up, Bruce, you know? Him and who’s the other one? Robert DeNiro. I mean, who cares, guys? Do your art. I try to keep politics out of my music.”
Cain said he “used to like” Springsteen, who has long been vocal about his liberal political views, but added that he now regards him as “an annoying, bitter old man.”
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Springsteen seeking further comment on the matter.
Journey musician Jonathan Cain, 76, has called Bruce Springsteen an “annoying, bitter old man” over the rock star’s political commentary onstage. Cain is pictured in Texas this past March.
Cain, who is married to Trump administration adviser and pastor Paula White-Cain, said that although he holds firm political views of his own, he makes a conscious effort to keep them separate from his music and live performances.
‘People say, “Well, you’re a Christian and you’re conservative,” and I’m like, “So what?” I don’t preach it on stage. I don’t spend 10 minutes talking about it.’
He cited Springsteen’s 1984 classic Born in the U.S.A. as being anti-American in some respects.
‘You were born in the USA, weren’t you, dude?’ Cain said. ‘So act like it. But even that song, if you look at the lyrics, I mean, it’s a kind of a diss toward our country.’
Cain said that as artists, ‘unifying people’ is a central goal, noting that music should cut through political differences.
‘I mean, Paul McCartney said, “Hey, when I sing Hey, Jude, Democrats and Republicans all sing together,”‘ Cain said. ‘And I feel the same way with Journey.
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‘We have our parties out there in the audience, respective parties, and they’re singing Don’t Stop Believin’.’
He added, ‘I just don’t think it’s cool to have celebrities going there. It’s a bad look.’
Cain said he ‘used to like’ Springsteen (pictured in Chicago in June), who has been outspoken about his liberal beliefs over the decades
The Journey artist’s comments come after Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger had said that he was resistant to use his platform to talk politics
Remarks from the Journey artist came after Jagger, speaking with The New York Times’ podcast with David Marchese earlier this month, said that he preferred to stay away from political topics to provide the audience with the element of escapism they’re looking for in attending the show.
‘The bottom line of my thing really is that my job in the live music world is those people that come is to have the best time they possibly can,’ Jagger said. ‘For two hours or whatever it is, to forget all their problems and the problems of the world and their mortgages and whatever, just to give them the best time they can have. You don’t want to lecture them.’
Cain mentioned his recent single Winds of Freedom as a conservative-tilted song which he said was influenced by evangelical personality Eric Metaxas.
He said that integrating his views into his material was an exception, citing other notable names who have done so, such as Ted Nugent and Kid Rock.
‘I’m releasing this patriotic song because I’m a diehard patriot, like Ted Nugent, who’s my friend,’ Cain said. ‘We’re a couple of patriots … we love our flag and we love our nation, and we grew up that way.
‘Me and Kid Rock, we’re probably on an island. There’s a few of us, and I proudly stand there with my flag on that island. And if anybody’s got a problem with me, America and Jesus, then bring it.’
