Dr Rangan Chatterjee"Fame Is a Liar. Success Almost Broke Me.” – Jon Bon Jovi’s Most Honest Interview Yet
EVERY SPOKEN WORD
65 min read · 13,083 words- JJJon Bon Jovi
I don't know how many lives you get, but take this chance while you get it. If you have a dream and it's truly your dream, pursue it. I don't care if you fall down. I don't care if you fail. Pursue it, because when you lay your head down on the pillow at night, you just need to know that you gave it your all.
- RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee
As I listen to the lyrics in your latest album, as I listen to you talk in a lot of your recent interviews, it strikes me that you're in a very special place. You feel to be, to me at least, super happy, super contented, someone who's very comfortable in their own skin. Why do you think that's the case?
- JJJon Bon Jovi
It's a process. There has been progress. I haven't quite achieved that place of, you know, satisfaction yet. But in the process, I can take more of a macro view and see how far I've come in these last few years spiritually, mentally, physically, and I, I'm not quite where I wanna be yet, but I'll make it by the target date.
- RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee
Yeah.
- JJJon Bon Jovi
You know? And I don't know what the target date is, but I'll make it on the target date because I, I feel like I'm making progress every day.
- RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee
Yeah. The mission statement of the album is the song Legendary.
- JJJon Bon Jovi
Mm.
- RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee
And I've been listening to it again and again all week, and I'm someone who thinks a lot about the ingredients to a happy, meaningful, and purposeful life. When I hear the bridge and chorus of Legendary, all the ingredients that I write about are in it. "I raise my hands up to the sky." To me, that speaks to something that's greater than us.
- JJJon Bon Jovi
That's right.
- RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee
"Don't need more to tell me I'm alive." It speaks to appreciation. "Got what I want 'cause I got what I need." Gratitude. "Got a fistful of friends that'll stand up for me." Friendship. "Right where I am is where I wanna be." Contentment. "Friday night comes around like a song. Sweet Carolina, we all sing along." Joy. "Got my brown-eyed girl and she believes in me." The love of your wife. Appreciation, gratitude, friendship, contentment, joy, and the love of someone.
- JJJon Bon Jovi
Yeah.
- RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee
That's it, isn't it?
- JJJon Bon Jovi
That is the keys to a good and happy, healthy life, yes, and I feel like I have all of those elements. Yes, most definitely.
- RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee
Did you know when you wrote that that all the ingredients, or what I consider to be the ingredients for happiness and contentment, are literally contained within those six or seven lines?
- JJJon Bon Jovi
Well, I may not have broken it down the way you did, but I knew each line was a complete thought.
- RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee
Mm-hmm.
- JJJon Bon Jovi
You know? I got what I want 'cause I've got what I need. If that was all the chorus was, that's good enough for me. That's it. That's a complete thought. I don't need anything else.
- RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee
Yeah.
- JJJon Bon Jovi
Got a fistful of friends that'll stand up for me. Boy, if that isn't a complete thought and, and something that we all aspire to in our lives. Um, now you're making me sing it. Right where I am is where I wanna be.
- RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee
Mm-hmm.
- JJJon Bon Jovi
Well, am I really vocally where I wanna be? Well, pretty close. Not exactly, but pretty darn close. I'm in the room.
- RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee
Yeah.
- JJJon Bon Jovi
So I feel good about that, the progress, the process. "Friday night comes around like a song. It's Sweet Carolina, we all sing along." That kind of camaraderie and joy-
- RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee
Yeah
- JJJon Bon Jovi
... that is my aspiration. That is the absolute only sole reason I'm sitting here in this interview today, only sole reason I'm re-releasing this record, and the sole reason I wanna do another show again, to seek joy, to hold hands with joy.
- RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee
Yeah.
- JJJon Bon Jovi
And, and that's the idea. Um, got my brown-eyed girl and she believed in me. That was who got me through all this, yeah.
- RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee
Yeah. You're speaking to Dorothea-
- JJJon Bon Jovi
Yeah
- RCDr. Rangan Chatterjee
... your wife.
Episode duration: 1:14:26
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