Sophia Michaels
Bruce Springsteen kicked off his Tonight Show takeover with a performance of Frank Wilson’s “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)” and a confirmation that he will be attending at least one Taylor Swift show on next year’s “Eras Tour.”
Springsteen will be a guest on The Tonight Show through Nov. 16, while he’ll also pop up again for the show’s special Thanksgiving episode on Nov. 24. He’ll mostly be performing songs from his new soul/R&B covers album, Only the Strong Survive, and he kicked off his stint with an uproarious rendition of “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do),” bringing along a small choir, string section, and horns to back him up.
Springsteen also sat down with host Jimmy Fallon for an interview, where he discussed embracing gospel music in new ways on Only the Strong Survive, gearing up for his first tour with the E Street Band in six years, and how he got used to performing shows that often last around three hours. While reflecting on his vast catalog of classics, Springsteen also revealed what he thought was one of his bigger duds.
“I have one that’s always a real pet peeve. On The River, where I had so many good outtakes, so many good extra songs, but there’s a song called ‘Crush on You,’” Springsteen said, quickly quipping when he heard some muttering in the crowd, “People are saying, ‘That’s my fave!’”
Springsteen said the song’s simple chorus (“Ooh, ooh I got a crush on you”) was “fine for rock and roll,” but suggested an already classic album like The River could’ve been even better if he’d made a few more tracklist substitutions.
In the second part of the interview, Fallon asked Springsteen to clear up a few questions about his career, such as whether the lyrics to “Thunder Road” are “Mary’s dress sways” or “Mary’s dress waves” (it’s the latter, and Springsteen brought out his own gatefold vinyl copy of Born to Run to read the correct lyrics himself). Fallon also asked if Springsteen might pop by one of Taylor Swift’s shows next year when they’re both on tour.
“I will be, because my daughter is going to make sure I will be at the Taylor Swift show,” Springsteen quipped. “So I know that. And, she’s welcome on E Street anytime.”
