Bruce Springsteen has had a whole lot going on lately. His Broadway show came back. He made a podcast and a book with Barack Obama. He’s made recent collaborations with the Killers and John Mellencamp and Dion. He’s getting ready to release The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concert, a live film and album recorded 42 years ago at Madison Square Garden. His daughter just won a damn silver medal at the Olympics. And last night, Springsteen sat down with Stephen Colbert for the better part of an hour to talk about a whole lot of it.

Springsteen was the main guest on last night’s episode of Colbert’s Late Show. The Boss and Colbert talked for a long time. Springsteen discussed how weird it felt to be on a first-name basis with Barack Obama, though he and Colbert both talked about how they didn’t go to Obama’s big birthday party a little while ago. (Colbert got bumped from the guest list. Springsteen said he didn’t go because Colbert wasn’t going to be there.) Springsteen also reminisced about that 1979 No Nukes show. And he showed off his guitar from when he was touring behind Born To Run: “I’ve played this guitar for 50 years.”

Near the end of the show, Springsteen also played a haunted solo-acoustic rendition of “The River,” the title track of the classic 1980 album that Springsteen and his band were recording when they played that No Nukes concert. I’ve heard Springsteen play similar versions of “The River” a lot of times, and it doesn’t get old. The man has gravitas. Watch the performance and the interview below.

The Legendary 1979 No Nukes Concerts is out 11/16 on digital and 11/19 on DVD. It’ll be up for digital rental 11/23.