Bruce Springsteen and The Killers have released a duet titled “Dustland,” a re-recording of the band’s “A Dustland Fairytale” from their 2008 studio album Day and Age.
Flowers explained how the collaboration came together in a statement to The Killers’ social media channels. The frontman explains he was about to board a plane from JFK airport to Salt Lake City when he receives a text message from a number he doesn’t have saved to his phone.
“‘Watching Glastonbury. You guys have become one hellacious live band my brother! Love the gold suit! We gotta do Dustland one day.’ Signed off with: ‘Bruce,’” recalls Flowers of the text message. “Now I’ve got 3 options here: 1. Some cold-blooded monster is playing a cruel trick on me; 2. It’s Bruce Hornsby. But I haven’t talked with him since 2015ish; or 3. It really is Bruce Springsteen (I forgot to put both Bruce’s numbers in that phone..)”
After Googling the number’s area code and reaching out to Bruce’s son/Flowers’ friend, Evan, he confirmed the text did come from The Boss.
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Flowers adds that “A Dustland Fairytale” was written about his mother, who was battling brain cancer at the time and would later die in 2010 at age 64.
“It was an attempt to better understand my dad, who is sometimes a mystery to me. To grieve for my mother. To acknowledge their sacrifices and maybe even catch a glimpse of just how strong love needs to be to make it in this world. It was my therapy. It was cathartic,” writes Flowers.
Flowers adds, “That’s where Bruce comes in. Before I really became a fan of his, I was in the business of stadium-size everything. Larger than life EVERYTHING. Certainly larger than the lives of Jeannie and Terry Flowers. But Bruce has written a lot about people like my parents and found a whole lot of beauty in otherwise invisible people’s hopes and dreams. Their struggles, and their losses. I’m grateful to him for opening this door for me. I’m grateful to my parents for their example to me. Now go find something new out about your dad, give your mom a big hug, and for god’s sake listen to Bruce Springsteen.”
“Dustland” can be heard below and is available for streaming and download here.