In his essay, Springsteen recalled spending an afternoon with MacGowan shortly before his death.
“He was not well but he and his wife, Victoria, proved warm and gracious hosts. As I left, I thanked him for his beautiful work, his music, his songs, his life. I stood in his warmth, kissed him and told him I loved him.”
Springsteen called the musician a writer in the lineage of “geniuses” and “natural rebels” like Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams, Miles Davis, Aretha Franklin and Bob Dylan.
“Shane was all naked bottomless humanity. Threatening to force us to ask ourselves if we were living deeply, authentically,” he continued.
“[His] voice was so deeply real, profane and honest, his writing so flashing, alive and historically rich its genesis appeared as a mystery to all including, I believe, its creator,” Springsteen added.
“His soul was filled with the transgressive and ecstatic properties of the saints.
“I don’t know who’ll be listening to my music in 100 years but I know they’ll be listening to Shane’s.”
