Song of the Day 1/29: Bruce Springsteen, “Streets of Minneapolis”
In the 1960s, starting with the civil rights movement and continuing throughout the war in Vietnam, popular music played a major role in opposing authority. Folk musicians were in the vanguard on civil rights. By the mid-’60s nuclear proliferation prompted hundreds of anti-war songs, and rockers soon took up the cause. But protest music mostly faded away once the war ended.
It’s unclear whether today’s selfie-obsessed youth are interested in protest songs, but the war on Minneapolis has rekindled the fire under musicians. After the murder of Renee Good earlier this month, Jesse Welles, who’s been releasing anti-MAGA songs since Trump’s re-election, dropped “Good vs. ICE.” Yesterday Bruce Springsteen responded to the murder of Alex Pretti by writing and recording his own memorial song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” with this statement:
“I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday, and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free, Bruce Springsteen.”
Through the winter’s ice and cold
Down Nicolet Avenue
A city aflame fought fire and ice
‘Neath an occupier’s boots
King Trump’s private army from the DHS
Guns belted to their coats
Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law
Or so their story goes
Against smoke and rubber bullets
By the dawn’s early light
Citizens stood for justice
Their voices ringing through the night
And there were bloody footprints
Where mercy should have stood
And two dead left to die on snow-filled streets
Alex Pretti and Renee Good
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
Here in our home they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
Trump’s federal thugs beat up on
His face and his chest
Then we heard the gunshots
And Alex Pretti lay in the snow, dead
Their claim was self defense, sir
Just don’t believe your eyes
It’s our blood and bones
And these whistles and phones
Against Miller and Noem’s dirty lies
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Crying through the bloody mist
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
Now they say they’re here to uphold the law
But they trample on our rights
If your skin is black or brown my friend
You can be questioned or deported on sight
In chants of ICE out now
Our city’s heart and soul persists
Through broken glass and bloody tears
On the streets of Minneapolis
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
Here in our home they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
Albeit partially AI generated, this one is topical, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PUOhAJG5EU
Note the Woody Guthrie reference in the opening scene.
I would love to see Green Day perform this in their pre-Super Bowl set. However, they may not make it past the censors!
Mike Dinsmore – This song is a real rouser. Ditto about Green Day at the Super Bowl. They could just say they’re going to do something else and then launch into this one. And then be carried off by the NFL police.
Actually, ICE will be there. They could find themselves anywhere that Avelo and its ilk fly to.