Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain recently talked about whether celebrities should be outspoken about their political views. He took direct aim at Bruce Springsteen in an interview shared on The Complete Disaster Network.
Cain also clarified his conservative stance and expressed frustration with fellow artists who use their public platforms to voice political opinions.
“We’re blessed to live where we live. And I’m obviously a conservative. I used to be a Democrat back in the old days, but I couldn’t go there anymore. I thought [Barack] Obama maybe, but then I saw where he was going and I’m, like, ‘Okay, we can’t have this anymore.’ So I’m a diehard conservative,” Cain said. “And guys like Bruce Springsteen should shut up. Honestly, shut up, Bruce. Who’s the other one? Robert De Niro. I mean, who cares, guys? Really? Do your art.”
Cain then described his own approach to keeping politics separate from his music, while noting his patriotic motivations for a new release.
“I try to keep politics out of my music. Now I’m releasing this patriotic song [‘The Winds Of Freedom: A Salute To America’ in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary] because I’m a diehard patriot. Like Kid Rock, who’s my friend — we’re a couple of patriots and … we love our flag and we love our nation. And we grew up that way,” he continued. “I think in the end we should do what we do and try to unify. I think our job [as artists] is unifying people. I mean, Paul McCartney said, ‘Hey, when I sing ‘Hey, Jude’, Democrats and Republicans all sing together.’ And I feel the same way with Journey. We have our [political] parties out there in the audience, respective parties, and they’re singing ‘Don’t Stop Believin’.”
Cain then addressed the backlash he receives for his own beliefs, while doubling down on his stance against celebrity political commentary.
“Now people say, ‘Well, you’re a Christian and you’re a conservative,’ and I’m, like, ‘So what?’ I don’t preach it on stage. I don’t spend 10 minutes talking about it. That’s who I am. And that’s okay. Again, I just don’t think it’s cool to have celebrities going there. It’s a bad look,” he said. “And Bruce, I mean, what the heck? I used to like him, and now he’s just annoying. He’s an annoying, bitter old man. I mean, stop it. Really. You were born in the USA, weren’t you, dude? So act like it. But even that song [Springsteen’s ‘Born In The USA’], if you look at the lyrics, it’s a kind of a diss to our country.”
