Watch Bruce Springsteen Share a Pint and a Round of ‘My Hometown’ With Locals in His Ancestral Irish Birthplace
Bruce Springsteen got to know the locals during his visit to The Burrow pub in Rathangan, Co. Kildare in Ireland this week ahead of his trio of sold-out shows this weekend at RDS Arena in Dublin. In video posted from a fan account, Springsteen is seen hanging with some townspeople and having a pint.
After saying he hadn’t sung it in a while and might be rusty on the lyrics, the Boss busted into the a cappella first verse of his 1985 Born in the U.S.A. single “My Hometown.” Tapping his hand on the table, he sang, “And running with a dime in my hand/ To the bus stop to pick/ Up a paper for my old man/ I’d sit on his lap in that big old Buick/ And steer as we drove through town/ He’d tousle my hair/ And say, ‘son, take a good look around’/ This is your hometown.”
He then looked at the fans gathered in his family’s ancestral home and led them in the chorus of, “this is your hometown,” telling them afterwards, “you guys, I’m firing the E Street Band and I’m hiring you.”
Springsteen made another stop as well, visiting former Pogues singer Shane MacGowan’s home in Dublin, captured in a sweet pic posted by the beloved singer’s wife, Victoria Mary Clarke.
“It was really really exciting and monumentally inspiring to spend time with @springsteen yesterday,” she wrote in the caption to the pic of Springsteen smiling at a seated MacGowan. “He radiates a very very beautiful energy, he is like an embodied angel! It’s great to see that someone can find work that they are lit up with and that they can spend their whole life lifting peoples spirits through their work and stay so enthusiastic and energetic and full of gratitude and grace and appreciation for the work and for everything and everyone in their life… It is also wonderful to see that a person can be extremely successful in his field and still massively generous in his administration for other musicians and writers. Extreme kudos and gratitude for the visit to me and @shanemacgowanofficial ! Really looking forward to the gig!”
Springsteen and the E Street Band are playing RDS Arena tonight (May 5), Sunday and Tuesday.
Check out the fan video and Clarke’s post below.
Gil Kaufman
Billboard
