Bruce Springsteen regrets not letting Bono use his song in commercial

Bruce Springsteen has admitted that turning down Bono's request to use one of his songs in a Gap commercial for a good cause was a decision he has long regretted, and used the moment to deliver a public apology.

The confession came at the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday, 13 June in New York City, where Bono was presenting Springsteen with the Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award. 

The U2 frontman recalled asking Springsteen years ago if he could license the 2008 track Girls in Their Summer Clothes for a Gap commercial supporting RED, the campaign he co-founded with Bobby Shriver to fight AIDS.

"I said, 'Bruce, this song Girls in Their Summer Clothes, this is like one of the great pop songs ever,'" Bono, 66, recalled. 

"He goes, 'It's not bad, is it?' I said, 'Would you think about using it for a commercial like for RED through Gap?' You said, 'No.'"

Springsteen, 76, didn't try to defend the decision. 

"That was a big mistake... I should have said yes," he said. 

"That was just a song that I loved, and damn it, I still think back. I said, 'Bono asked me to put this thing in a commercial on television, I should have f---ing done it, then people would hear it like a hit.' So I have to apologize, I should have done that."

The award, which honours efforts to advance equality, dignity and human rights, was accompanied by tributes from both Bono and Robert De Niro.

De Niro praised Springsteen as someone who knows how to channel his voice in service of something greater. 

"He uses it to give voice to the powerless and uses it to lead the resistance," he said. "He is fearless and direct."

Springsteen himself reflected on the relationship between art and civic life after receiving the honour. 

"Art has the chance to shape the culture because culture shapes politics. Culture and politics shape the nation." 

He closed the evening with an acoustic performance of his 1999 song Land of Hope and Dreams.