Patti Smith and Bruce Springsteen Discuss How ‘Because the Night’ Came to Be (Book Excerpt)
Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTo those who know, Patti Smith, pioneering punk poetess and rock star without peer or precedent, requires no introduction. But times change, generations succeed generations, and sometimes the world needs to be reminded of things like “Why Patti Smith Matters,” which is exactly the book that veteran music journalist Caryn Rose published yesterday via University of Texas Press. Rose, whose work has appeared in Pitchfork, Salon, the Village Voice, Vulture, Backstreets, the Guardian and Variety, explains, “I was eager to take on the formidable task of chronicling Patti Smith’s career because aside from Smith’s own work, the existing scholarship didn’t possess the kind of informed, careful perspective of her life and art that it deserves.” The book combines original research and primary sources — one of whom is Bruce Springsteen, who gave Rose an exclusive interview on the making of their 1978 hit song, “Because the Night.” A section of the book focusing on the song appears below.