Bruce Springsteen was on hand in his hometown of Freehold, New Jersey yesterday (March 8th) at the official ceremony announcing, “The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music.” APP.com reported the joint effort between New Jersey's Monmouth University and the city of Freehold will be housed at the firehouse on Main Street in Freehold which is no longer, “adequate for the borough’s fire safety needs.” The official opening date for the Archives is set for some time in 2024.
Springsteen, who grew up nearby, told the assembled crowd, “The bottom line is you can't get away from the fact that it feels bizarre. I sat three blocks from here, came up with a few songs, things that I liked. The idea that 50 years later anybody was going to be interested in them at all, I mean, what are the odds, folks? They're very small.”
“The Boss,” who still lives close his hometown in Colts Neck, spoke wistfully about his time in Freehold, revealing, “Everything I've learned of deep importance, I learned in this town. You learn most of what makes you who you are, gosh, I don't know, by the time you're 12. Maybe your teen years. I had all the usual joy and heartbreak of growing up in a small town like this, and of course the minute the opportunity arose, I got the hell out (laughs).”