Bruce Springsteen has never shied away from speaking up. His song “American Skin (41 Shots)” is labeled as “controversial” for his criticism of the police force. And now he has released an Anti-ICE song. That’s my GUY!!
Springsteen saw what is happening in Minneapolis, Minnesota and responded quickly. The prolific singer songwriter wrote a song on the weekend, when the second civilian in the month of January was shot and killed by ICE agents. Renee Nicole Good was killed on January 7 and Alex Pretti was shot on January 24. Since, there have been protests around the country against ICE, using the phrase “ICE Out” and with many Americans alerting others of where they’ve seen agents.
So it isn’t surprising that Springsteen took this moment of civil unrest and made a song, encouraging his fans to look critically at what ICE is doing in Minnesota. One versus of his song speaks to the deaths of Pretti and Good. “Against smoke and rubber bullets, in the dawn’s early light, 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.”
The chorus is a call to remember this time and what is happening in Minnesota. “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.”
A theme within Bruce Springsteen’s music
Springsteen has a song “The Streets of Philadelphia” that tells the tale of a man dying of AIDs. It was written for the film Philadelphia and is a fictional story but it does a similar thing as “The Streets of Minneapolis.” It is a rallying call.
Men like “King Trump,” as the song calls the President, will proudly use songs like “Born in the USA” and miss Springsteen’s messaging within it. And now there is no mistaking what Springsteen means with “The Streets of Minneapolis.”
(featured image: Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images)
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