Terry Gross

searching for whatever's down the road.

You don't really know what.

You're not totally confident.

It'll be better when you get there, but you're kind of faking it, maybe.

Do you know what I mean?

Sure.

So the first time I talked to Springsteen, and this was in 2005, I asked him about the kind of romantic drama and the very vivid language in his songs.

And I just want to play you that brief excerpt.

Do you think of yourself as a romantic by nature?

Because some of your songs are so romantic.

Mine's like, I want to die with you, Wendy, on the streets tonight in an everlasting kiss.

Is that something that you could imagine saying to somebody in real life, or is that a kind of romantic nature that's just reserved for your art as opposed to your life?

You know, he sounds so self-aware and so understanding of what his songs or art in general does for people.

There's a song called Meeting Across the River on the album that it's kind of like if you turned a film noir into a song, this would be the song.

It's about meeting a guy across the river who is your connection to a heist or a robbery.

The song was initially called The Heist.

So let's hear some of it, and then we'll talk about what's happening in this song.

But listen for the trumpet because there's a story about that.

So that's Meeting Across the River from Born to Run.

Peter, so let's talk first about the story.