Audio: Patti Scialfa Opens Up About Life With Bruce Springsteen, Writing Under the Influence

During their interview for the current issue of Rolling Stone Associate Editor Austin Scaggs and Patti Scialfa discussed about everything from her relationship with her husband Bruce Springsteen to writing songs in the shower. Here's a few clips from their chat:

Scialfa explains why she regrets saying that she had to be drunk to write "Bad For You," and big-ups writing songs in the shower: "I did it late at night, two or three in the morning, drank a ton of tequila, sang, and I was really hoarse at the time, too, and I know I sang out of tune, but I kind of liked that and I kept that. I had to be a little out of control."

Scaggs asks Scialfa if she and Springsteen felt love at first sight: "He has tremendous magnetism, and he's beautiful, and I thought he was really lovely. ... I thought he was really cute, but I'm not a dallier, first of all, so it would have had to have been the real deal or nothing at all."

Scialfa opens up about Springsteen songs that are difficult for her to listen to: "When Bruce wrote ["Reno"] -- it was his last solo record, Devils & Dust, and it was about the man in the hotel room with the hooker and stuff. When he gave himself license to write that, I said, "Okay, then I'll give myself license," and I wrote "Bad for You." So that's how it is in our house."

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

More Song Stories entries »

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