Bruce Springsteen has never been shy about dragging America’s uglier truths into the light, but his new track ‘Streets of Minneapolis’ is one of the most direct political gut punches of his career.
Released earlier today (Wednesday, Jan 28th US), the song was written over the weekend and recorded Tuesday (Jan 27th US), with Springsteen describing it as a response to “the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis.”
The track is aimed squarely at the violence surrounding immigration raids reportedly carried out by the Trump administration, and it names two people killed this month, 37 year old mother of three Renée Good and 37 year old intensive care nurse Alex Pretti (article per billboard).
Springsteen dedicated the song to Minneapolis residents, “our innocent immigrant neighbors,” and the memories of Good and Pretti.
The opening lines hit hard, setting the scene with grim clarity:
“Through the winter’s ice and cold/ Down Nicollet 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.”
Listen here:
Musically
It’s built in the tradition of Springsteen’s urgent protest catalogue, from ‘American Skin (41 Shots)’ to ‘The Ghost of Tom Joad’, but this time he doesn’t bother dressing it up in metaphor.
The second verse expands into a full band roar as he describes citizens pushing back:
“Against smoke and rubber bullets/ By the dawn’s early light/ Citizens stood for justice/ Their voices ringing through the night.”
Then the song hits its most brutal centre:
“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.”
Springsteen’s lyrics also take direct aim at the official narrative around the killings, spitting: “Their claim was self defense, sir/ Just don’t believe your eyes,” before closing with the now familiar chant echoed at protests nationwide, “ICE out now”.
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