A few miles from his Colts Neck home, Springsteen filmed his Harris-Walz endorsement in a Freehold, N.J. diner

Bruce Springsteen decided to talk not sing. For nearly three minutes, two weeks ago, The Boss spoke to us in a video endorsement of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz posted on social media. The visuals were thoroughly familiar, as the camera framed the shot inside a vintage Jersey diner.

Despite his induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, an Oscar, and a Tony, the billionaire New Jersey native seems like the guy next door in a welcoming neighborhood eatery. Wearing a flannel plaid shirt over an open collar white jersey, Springsteen looks like a 21st-century Walt Whitman.

With a soundtrack of traffic on Main Street in Freehold, N.J., the American rocker sat on a stool as he leaned on the white Formica counter at Roberto’s Freehold Grill and earnestly said: “My opinion is no more or less important than those of any of my fellow citizens.” Springsteen asserted in his raspy voice that Harris and Walz want to “include everyone … to benefit all, not just the few like me on top, that is the vision of America I have been consistently writing about for 55 years.”

New Jersey is believed to have more extant diners than any other state and has been aptly dubbed “the diner capital of the Western world.” Therefore, it is understandable that an authentic diner in Freehold, just a few miles from the singer’s residence in Colts Neck, was chosen as an appropriate venue where he delivered his straightforward remarks. Springsteen had patronized Roberto’s, a local Monmouth County vintage landmark in the town where he grew up, so he already knew the setting.

Over the recent past, he has eaten at Roberto’s, even posing for photos and mingling with the kitchen staff. Roberto Diaz, the owner, wrote in an email: “I wasn’t involved with the production — I simply lent my place for it.” Filming was done after the restaurant’s midday closing.

Diners are a significant component of New Jersey culture. Richard Gutman, diner historian and curator, said in a phone interview from his home in Massachusetts: “There are more companies that built diners in New Jersey than any other state … therefore, that translates into more diners and more diner consciousness.”

Based in Jersey, the Jerry O’Mahony Diner Company “was one of the most influential builders of diners,” said Gutman. From 1917 to 1952, it built almost 2,000 diners across the country; its corporate slogan boasted: “In our line, we lead the world.”

Dating from 1947, Roberto’s Freehold Grill was built by O’Mahony. The stainless-steel and glass exterior with curved canopy and corner along with the neon signage are distinctive elements from the golden days of diner architecture. The restaurant still retains many of the iconic interior diner features like the booths and stools, large horizontal windows, and a bent stainless steel back bar with sunburst motifs.

Diners are places without pretense. Their popularity began by providing inexpensive meals like eggs and burgers to an after-hours working-class clientele and nighthawks. But “everyone now goes to the diners,” Gutman said, including politicians who typically stop at local diners to connect with voters.

Mayfair Diner in Philadelphia has seen Bill Clinton and Barack Obama when they were running for president. Sen. Bob Casey and various mayoral candidates have also spent time at the well-known Frankford Avenue establishment.

Back in 2008, Obama and Casey greeted patrons at the counter stools before eating waffles at Scranton’s Glider Diner. For decades. Ponzio’s Diner in Cherry Hill has been a meet-and-greet gathering place for state and township politicians along with many celebrated professional athletes, going back to Muhammad Ali in the early 1970s.

When Ted Cruz was campaigning in hopes of the Republican presidential nomination, he visited the Hamilton Family Diner in Allentown. During JFK’s 1960 campaign, he talked with hundreds at a rally in front of the Garfield Diner in Pottsville.

In Springsteen’s video, the setting and clothing reinforce the singer’s persona as a working guy who will be casting his vote on what Whitman called “America’s choosing day … the quadrennial choosing.” In 1884, the celebrated poet, who had experienced the devastation of the Civil War, discussed the postwar ballot process as “a swordless conflict … the peaceful choice of all.”

Springsteen also recognized that we are now “politically, spiritually, and emotionally divided … it doesn’t have to be this way.”

“Like you, I only have one vote,” he said, “and it’s one of the most precious possessions I have.”

A little more than one month before Election Day, Springsteen, who had written: “You play your part/ Everybody’s got a hungry heart,” is seen seated at a counter stool in Roberto’s Freehold Grill, a quintessential hometown diner, serving up some food for thought.