© 2024 Connecticut Public

FCC Public Inspection Files:
WEDH · WEDN · WEDW · WEDY
WECS · WEDW-FM · WNPR · WPKT · WRLI-FM · WVOF
Public Files Contact · ATSC 3.0 FAQ
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Patti Scialfa: From E Street to '23rd Street'

Patti Scialfa's 23rd Street Lullaby
Patti Scialfa's 23rd Street Lullaby

Singer Patti Scialfa's new CD was a long time coming -- her previous solo release was in 1993. But she says husband Bruce Springsteen offered this encouragement: "The record will tell you when it's complete."

Still, it's a fine line between giving advice and bossing your spouse around. Scialfa, who joined Springsteen's E Street Band in 1984, needed an opening song for the album. So she turned to the fellow musician in the family.

"He said, 'You should write something like 'New York City Lullaby,'" Scialfa tells NPR's Renee Montagne. "He just came right up with that. And I got... mad because now he's telling me what to do," Scialfa says with a chuckle. They argued about it for weeks -- she thought New York City was too broad a subject -- but Scialfa eventually narrowed the focus a bit by calling the song -- and the CD -- 23rd Street Lullaby.

With titles including "You Can't Go Back," "Each Other's Medicine," "Romeo" and "Young in the City," Scialfa's songs combine autobiographical elements with imaginary ones. "I like to start with something I feel very close to and very emotionally true about," she says. "And as long as I have that as a core inspiration, then you can add your fiction on top of it..."

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Stand up for civility

This news story is funded in large part by Connecticut Public’s Members — listeners, viewers, and readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

We hope their support inspires you to donate so that we can continue telling stories that inform, educate, and inspire you and your neighbors. As a community-supported public media service, Connecticut Public has relied on donor support for more than 50 years.

Your donation today will allow us to continue this work on your behalf. Give today at any amount and join the 50,000 members who are building a better—and more civil—Connecticut to live, work, and play.