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That Time the Harry Potter Franchise Said ‘No Thanks’ to a Bruce Spingsteen Ballad

Photo: Warner Brothers, Getty Images

Bruce Springsteen might be the undisputed king of New Jersey, but the producers behind the Harry Potter films clearly weren’t charmed enough by the Boss’s reign. During an interview on Simon Mayo’s BBC Radio 2 show on Thursday, Springsteen confirmed the long-standing rumor that he a wrote a song specifically for the fantasy franchise, titled “I’ll Stand By You Always,” and that the tune never saw the light of day in the wizarding universe. When prompted by Mayo about it, Springsteen chuckled a bit while divulging the details. “That is true,” he said. “They didn’t use it.” He’s still unsure as to the why the “pretty lovely song” was rejected, and even expressed hope that another kid-oriented film would be interested in using it instead. “It was pretty good,” he continued. “It was a song that I wrote for my eldest son, it was a big ballad that was very uncharacteristic of something I’d sing myself. But it was something that I thought would have fit lovely; at some point I’d like to get it into a children’s movie of some sort.” Act fast, How to Train Your Dragon 3! Don’t let this opportunity slide!

Harry Potter Films Rejected a Springsteen Song