Bruce Springsteen is dedicating his new song to the people of Minneapolis, criticizing Trump’s ongoing immigration enforcement operations in the city.<\/b>
\nBruce Springsteen sings out against President Trump in ‘Streets of Minneapolis’
Bruce Springsteen is dedicating his new song to the people of Minneapolis, criticizing President Donald Trump’s ongoing immigration enforcement operations in the city.
The lyrics of \u00ab\u00a0Streets of Minneapolis\u00a0\u00bb, released Wednesday, describe how \u00ab\u00a0a city aflame fought fire and ice ‘neath an occupier’s boots\u00a0\u00bb, which Springsteen calls \u00ab\u00a0King Trump’s private army.\u00a0\u00bb
Springsteen in a statement said he wrote and recorded the song over the weekend and released it in response to a second deadly shooting by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.
\u00ab\u00a0It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good\u00a0\u00bb, he wrote, naming the two victims.
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, responded: \u00ab\u00a0The Trump Administration is focused on encouraging state and local Democrats to work with federal law enforcement officers on removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens from their communities – not random songs with irrelevant opinions and inaccurate information.\u00a0\u00bb
Springsteen’s slow-burning song builds from just acoustic guitar and voice to a fuller band tune, including a harmonica solo, and ends with chants of \u00ab\u00a0ICE Out!\u00a0\u00bb
\u00ab\u00a0Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice\u00a0\u00bb, The Boss sings. \u00ab\u00a0Singing through the bloody mist\/We’ll take our stand for this land\/And the stranger in our midst.\u00a0\u00bb
The title echoes Springsteen’s \u00ab\u00a0Streets of Philadelphia\u00a0\u00bb, which served as a title song for the Tom Hanks-led 1993 film \u00ab\u00a0Philadelphia.\u00a0\u00bb His song comes on the heels of English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg’s own \u00ab\u00a0City of Heroes\u00a0\u00bb, which the protest singer wrote Sunday and released the next day. Bragg said in a statement that the song was inspired by Pretti’s killing and centers \u00ab\u00a0the bravery of the people of Minneapolis.\u00a0\u00bb
Springsteen has long been critical of the president, who in turn has called the rock icon \u00ab\u00a0overrated.\u00a0\u00bb They last publicly clashed last year, when Springsteen on tour in England told his audience that America \u00ab\u00a0is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.\u00a0\u00bb Trump responded by calling Springsteen a \u00ab\u00a0dried out prune of a rocker.\u00a0\u00bb
In related news, Minneapolis’ First Avenue venue will host on Friday the benefit \u00ab\u00a0A Concert of Solidarity & Resistance to Defend Minnesota\u00a0\u00bb, featuring Tom Morello, Rise Against, Al Di Meola and Ike Reilly. All proceeds will go to the families of Good and Pretti.
\u00ab\u00a0We are coming to Minneapolis where the people have heroically stood up against ICE, stood up against Trump, stood up against this terrible rising tide of state terror\u00a0\u00bb, Morello said in a statement.<\/p>\n