Springsteen’s “Streets of Minneapolis”
Now, about seven years after I first wrote about him, Springsteen once again demonstrates his “deeply humanistic and progressive” views.
Earlier this week, Bruce Springsteen released his “Streets of Minneapolis,” which he dedicated to “the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors,” and to the “memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.” Springsteen has long been one of my favorite singers. In 2018, I wrote about him that he is “an artist who embodies an important aspect of the American dream,” and that he “is sympathetic to all those who have faced discrimination, and his political views are deeply humanistic and progressive.”
I also noted that he “supported Barack Obama and (against Donald Trump) Hillary Clinton.” In the 2016 election he thought that “men and women, white and black, Hispanic and native” people “of all faiths and backgrounds” could “come together to address our problems in a reasonable and thoughtful way. That vision of America is essential to sustain, no matter how difficult its realization.” Regarding Trump he stated, “This is a man whose vision is limited to little beyond himself, who has the profound lack of decency that would allow him to prioritize his own interests and ego before American democracy itself...Somebody who would be willing to damage our long-cherished and admired system rather than look to himself for the reasons behind his own epic failure.”
In 2020 I again wrote about Springsteen. This time stating he (then 71 years old) “was a major challenger for the title of wisest septuagenarian celebrity.”
Now, about seven years after I first wrote about him, Springsteen once again demonstrates his “deeply humanistic and progressive” views. Here’s a sample from his Minneapolis song:
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. . . .
Citizens stood for justice
Their voices ringin' 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. . . .
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
[Chorus]
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 our chants of "ICE out now"
Our city's heart and soul persists
Through broken glass and bloody tears
On the streets of Minneapolis.
