“Cooking is an art form, a creative thing.”
― Clarence Clemons
“It’s love. It’s two men – two strong, very virile men – finding that space in life where they can let go enough of their masculinity to feel the passion of love and respect and trust. Friendships are based on those things, and you seal it with a kiss.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Through all the hardships and all the operations and all the hospitals, all that stuff each part of my life, there’s been some goodness, some greatness that comes in here and helps me to be strong, to continue what I’m doing.”
― Clarence Clemons
“As a horn player, the greatest compliment one can get is when a person comes to you and says, ‘I heard this saxophone on the radio the other day and I knew it was you. I don’t know the song, but I know it was you on sax.’”
― Clarence Clemons
“The calm mind allows one to connect with the inner self, the Soul, the very source of our being. That’s where the music lives. That’s where my music comes from.”
― Clarence Clemons
“It used to take a day to get over the partying. But I don’t party anymore. I don’t miss it, either.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Somebody said to me, ‘Whenever somebody says your name, a smile comes to their face.’ That’s a great accolade. I strive to keep it that way.”
― Clarence Clemons
“All this pain is going to come back and make me stronger.”
― Clarence Clemons
“In the mental calmness of a spiritual life, I have found that the answers to the whys in our lives are able to come to you. In my music I find the same thing.”
― Clarence Clemons
“God will give you no more than you can handle.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Of all the surgeries I’ve had, there’s not much left to operate on. I am totally bionic.”
― Clarence Clemons
“What you did, nobody wants to know about it, unless you did something exciting.”
― Clarence Clemons
“When you learn a Bruce Springsteen song, it’s like learning to ride a bike. You don’t forget it.”
― Clarence Clemons
“There’ll be no oiling up with this band. The oil has been there for years and it only gets better.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I look forward to working out every day.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I do read music, but I prefer playing from the heart.”
― Clarence Clemons
“The word spiritual, not the word religious, is the key.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I wanted an electric train for Christmas but I got the saxophone instead.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Being involved in the well-being and advancement of one’s own community is a most natural thing to do.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I like health-conscious cooking, but growing up in the South, I do love southern cooking; southern France, southern Italy, southern Spain. I love southern cooking.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I take my job as a rock and roll sax player very seriously. To do it the way that I must do it, I must be in good condition. The better shape you’re in, the harder you can rock.”
― Clarence Clemons
“It’s a matter of choosing what is most important to you and putting that first. Once you have recognized your true purpose in life, this becomes much easier.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Now that I am much older, I have had a number of sax players tell me I was responsible for them playing sax. Some of them I have admired over the years.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I found out how great the E Street Band is. The reality of a band that you can’t scoop aside, can’t put in a corner.”
― Clarence Clemons
“When I grew up, there was one music: rock n’ roll. Somewhere along the line, there was a separation. I don’t know why it happened, but it did happen.”
― Clarence Clemons
“The first time I ever saw a black audience at our concert, we were in Zimbabwe.”
― Clarence Clemons
“When I walk on stage, it’s the ‘healing floor.’ No matter how bad I’m hurting, I get out there and do it.”
― Clarence Clemons
“It’s like Liverpool. Everybody went for the music. All the young musicians seemed to gravitate to Asbury Park.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I got into the soul music, but I wanted to rock. I was a rocker.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I was a born rock n’ roll sax player.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I grew up with a very religious background.”
― Clarence Clemons
“You had your black bands, and you had your white bands, and if you mixed the two, you found less places to play.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Rock-and-roll, to me, is very serious because we deal with the young people. We deal with people who need something, and that’s the same thing that a preacher does. He feeds you something that you need spiritually in your soul and in your makeup.”
― Clarence Clemons
“As long as my mouth, hands, and brain still work, I’ll be out there doing it. I’m going to keep going ’til I’m not there anymore. This is what’s keeping me alive and feeling young and inspired.”
― Clarence Clemons
“More than 50 percent of kids who play an instrument go on to college, yet music education programs at the inner city public schools who need them most continue to be hit hard with budget cuts.”
― Clarence Clemons
“To me, the sax is rock n’ roll, even though electric guitars kind of pushed it aside for a while.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I’m a mellow fellow. Nothing much bothers me.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Nobody played instruments in my family. My father got that bug and said he wants his son to play saxophone.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I have no agenda – just to be loved.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I have faith in the judicial system.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I’ll never be rude to another news person. It’s a tough job, a thankless job. You really have to get out there and grovel to get your story.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I’ve been thinking about a cookbook. I’ve been making notes and promising myself I’ll do it some day. I have an idea for a cookbook and music together.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I don’t care about the gold records and all of that stuff. I care about what we do onstage, and the joy that we bring to people.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Small clubs aren’t as lucrative, but spiritually, they’re my favorite places to play. It’s a homey kind of thing. I refer to it as the Church of What’s Happening Now.”
― Clarence Clemons
“When I go out before a crowd, I ask God to give me inspiration to be the light.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Money is a hazard.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I’d rather somebody punch me in the face than drop my sax.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Working out has always been a way of life for me.”
― Clarence Clemons
“It’s a crazy world, so I meditate for 20 minutes. I also meditate for 20 minutes before a concert.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I’m like the Bionic Man.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I’m blessed with nice legs, but I see lots of guys with big upper bodies and pencil legs.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Sometimes you just do things and let your natural self become a part of what you’re doing.”
― Clarence Clemons
“When a fan says, ‘Man, you saved my life; I heard ‘Jungleland’… and I cried… and I felt joy in my life again,’ that’s my hall of fame.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I know that one day I’m going to die. I want to accomplish as much as I can before I do.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I didn’t think I’d ever be a Michael Jackson fan. But… watching him move, watching him dance, is so encouraging for me. Because, in my mind, I can do all that stuff.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I hung out in the Baltimore area a lot. My biggest memory was playing football against Morgan. That was, like, ‘Forget about it,’ that was a really big thing. They used to kick our butts all the time.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I always had this vision of what I wanted to do in life.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Going through all of this physical stuff, it’s been a tough job. But I’ve loved every second of my life.”
― Clarence Clemons
“How many ways can you cut a steak? How many ways can a chord go? I’ve been in this business so long, I know how to cut it.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I’ve been pretty blessed. Sometimes it comes in disguise.”
― Clarence Clemons
“It takes a village to run the Big Man – a village of doctors.”
― Clarence Clemons
“The age thing is just a number.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I’m always in the market for my acting.”
― Clarence Clemons
“When you die, we go back to the white energy of all the white energy: white heat that’s flung against the sky and becomes a star.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Death is not just the end, it’s the beginning.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I couldn’t really trust anyone. Not completely.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Tell-all books are boring.”
― Clarence Clemons
“The Philadelphia audiences, they’re like our home crowd.”
― Clarence Clemons
“It’s sad to see these old buildings go because they have so many memories, and it’s a real personal kind of thing when you play these places. It’s part of our history just gone.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Before the Berlin Wall came down, we played behind the Iron Curtain and sang, ‘Born in the U.S.A.,’ and I thought, ‘We’re all going to die. The man is going to get us all killed.’ But then you saw all these kids with the American flag and German flags together and singing the song, and it was, wow, like ‘We Shall Overcome.’”
― Clarence Clemons
“Of course, you get exhausted. You want to pass out. I came close a couple of times. But you’re filled with something, that feedback that comes from the audience.”
― Clarence Clemons
“When you go backstage at a Bruce Springsteen show, you don’t see a circus.”
― Clarence Clemons
“We had to play both ways on the field, so I was offensive center and defensive end.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Everybody calls me Big Man.”
― Clarence Clemons
“The night before a show, I don’t sleep. Really. I’ve been doing this for 30 years, and the night before a show, I still don’t sleep.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I visualize what I do before I do it. Visualizing makes me better.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I never thought I’d be a, quote, ‘rock & roll star.’”
― Clarence Clemons
“I’m a Gaga-ite.”
― Clarence Clemons
“To me, music is a river. I have lived my life beside the river. Every day, I get up and look at the river. I watch it and notice when it rises and falls.”
― Clarence Clemons
“Asbury Park’s a special place for me. It’s where I really began playing.”
― Clarence Clemons
“I love Asbury Park. It’s like the Liverpool of America.”
― Clarence Clemons
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