"You Can Change Someone's Life in 3 Minutes With The Right Song"
That is a quote from Bruce Springsteen.
Here's an excerpt of an interview where I got it:
When asked what he means when he says his covenant with his audience depends on honesty, he replies without pause, without any errs or urrms, in a single perfect paragraph, that requires not one piece of tidying in the transcription: “I guess we come out and deliver the straight dope to our crowd as best we can. It’s coming on stage with the idea: OK, well the stakes that are involved this evening are quite high. I don’t know exactly who’s in the crowd. But I know that my life was changed in an instant by something that people thought was purely junk – pop music records. And you can change someone’s life in three minutes with the right song. I still believe that to this day. You can bend the course of their development, what they think is important, of how vital and alive they feel. You can contextualize very, very difficult experiences. Songs are pretty good at that. So all these are the stakes that are laid out on the table when you come out at night. And I still take those stakes seriously after all that time, if not more so now, as the light grows slightly dimmer. I come out believing there’s no tomorrow night, there wasn’t last night, there’s just tonight. And I have built up the skills to be able to provide, under the right conditions, a certain transcendent evening, hopefully an evening you’ll remember when you go home. Not that you’ll just remember it was a good concert, but you’ll remember the possibilities the evening laid out in front of you, as far as where you could take your life, or how you’re thinking about your friends, or your wife or your girlfriend, or your best pal, or your job, your work, what you want to do with your life. These are all things, I believe, that music can accommodate and can provide service in. That’s what we try to deliver.”
And Here's proof that what he says is true:
I email that paragraph to a Springsteen obsessive friend, who blogs about both Springsteen and burgers. She writes back: “It sounds silly, and I try to explain to people, but going to Springsteen shows has shaped a lot of changes in my life. I went to South Africa for a week on my own for four concerts, felt revived, like I could achieve anything. So I left my job and tried to get into journalism, something I’d wanted to do since I was 10. And that’s why I feel like I have to go to Australia [to see Springsteen next year], too, because I need to find that direction again. It’s a funny way to live your life, seeking these highs, living the lows, but ultimately I think I’m better off for it. I really don’t know what I’d do without his music in my life.”
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/30/bruce-springsteen-interview-born-to-run-change-someones-life-right-song-donald-trump
I googled that quote when I cam across that statement from the devotional article I read from Our Daily Bread Ministries I am pasting the whole article here It's worth reading:
Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24
Sometimes our lives can change in a moment through the powerful impact of others. For rock ’n’ roll legend Bruce Springsteen, it was the work of musical artists that helped him through a difficult childhood and a persistent struggle with depression. He found meaning in his own work through the truth he’d experienced firsthand, that “You can change someone’s life in three minutes with the right song.”
Like a compelling song, others’ well-chosen words can also give us hope, even change the course of our lives. I’m sure most of us could share stories of a conversation that forever impacted our lives—words from a teacher that changed the way we saw the world, words of encouragement that restored our confidence, gentle words from a friend that carried us through a difficult time.
Perhaps this is why the book of Proverbs spends so much time emphasizing our responsibility to treasure words and use them wisely. Scripture never treats speech as if it’s “just talk.” Instead, we are taught that our words can have life-or-death consequences (18:21). In just a few words we could crush someone’s spirit, or, through words of wisdom and hope, nourish and strengthen others (15:4).
Not all of us have the ability to create powerful music. But we each can seek God’s wisdom to serve others through our speech (Psalm 141:3). With just a few well-chosen words, God can use us to change a life.
Lord, help us never to take for granted the powerful gift of language. May we use our words wisely to heal and strengthen others and point to the hope we have in You.
God has given us the power to have an impact on lives through our words.
INSIGHT
We can’t control the words that come our way, but we can harness the words we speak so that they bring life and encouragement, not destruction. That’s why the psalmist asked God to “set a guard over my mouth” (Psalm 141:3). His prayer is especially apt for us today when our words can travel far and wide via social media.
Jesus set the pattern for how we should use our words. He never backed down from a challenge, yet He spoke with love and grace. His twofold goal was to honor His Father in heaven and to bring about the spiritual health of His hearers. The words He spoke aligned perfectly with His life of sacrifice.
How are we doing with our speech? What do we do when our words have hurt someone? A good start is to offer a heartfelt apology. Then ask the Spirit to help us use words that promote life instead of destruction, unity instead of division.
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