looks like Bruce got annoyed by Hepworth and Ellen claiming he kept quiet on US politics while in the US.
Written on Saturday, recorded yesterday apparently
Streets Of Minneapolis
by 32 Comments
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
It’s not Ohio, but it’ll do. This is exactly what he should be doing now.
President Gobshite and the Fluffers (TMFTL) will no doubt sneer, but this is what artists should do to mark the moment.
Better than I expected. And pertinent. Good Man Bruce.
It’s not Ohio, but important to get something out quickly, which goes against his normal way of working. And, as is often the case, Hepworth was way off. Well done Boss.
Completely agree @dai. It needed to be written and to be written fast.
This is not a time for prevarication.
If ever there was a time when we needed protest songs it is now.
Gwan Bruce.
Now let’s wait and see whether Hepworth’s Robbie Williams protest song is any better.
Necessary. But I won’t be playing it as often as Baltimore..
I do wonder what Prince would have made of all this horror being visited on his beloved city.
He once famously said ‘I love that it’s so cold here…it keeps the bad people out’. Not any more, P.
I saw someone holding up a placard during one of the protest marches:
This is what it sounds like when doves cry
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
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
I think you’ll find that’s spelled ‘king Trump..
That works too
I was imagining it to be ‘Streets Of Philadelphia’ with just the name changed.
And Billy Bragg too:
It fulfils all it requires to last, a fairly simple tune, from the point of view of singing along to, with lots of punchy statements to shout out: ICE out etc. Brash and belligerent. The rhyme, well almost, of 26 and Minneapolis is superb, locking it into time and place. And a nifty insertion, sir, of Bruce’s signature writing style.
Can’t wait for the Donald’s review of it!!
I always liked Bruce, but now I love him. He’s made a clear, non-metaphorical statement that was absolutely required from someone with an audience. I think it’s incredibly hard to write songs that make such a direct statement (Call it What it is by Ben Harper is another).
Go easy on Hepworth and Ellen, I absolutely doubt it has anything to do with them. If it wasn’t for those two, we wouldn’t be on this little corner of the internet.
Obviously nothing to do with them, but saying he only speaks out about the US when overseas is nonsense. Have they ever heard of Forty one shots?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Skin_(41_Shots)
Being frequently wrongitty-wrong about stuff hasn’t hampered Heppo’s writing career so far. I get the impression he’s a bit Bruce-skeptic, deep down, whereas Ellen is not.
Myself, I’m pretty Bruce-indifferent, but he’s done a good, right thing in getting this out in a timely fashion.
Time for some of the others to step up too.
Hepworth was a big factor in Bruce going stratospheric at least in the UK. The OGWT special where he flew to US and interviewed him in Philadelphia together with lots of incredible live music clips. Dancing in the Dark had only been a minor hit before that and it was re-released after the TV show and got to no. 4
Maybe his enthusiasm has cooled but I think he was pretty much all in in the mid 80s.
Indeed. And Springsteen wasn’t slow to criticise Ronald Reagan in 1984 or George W Bush in 2003 in front of US audiences that didn’t entirely share his opinions. He also headlined the Vote for Change tour of swing states in 2004 in the run up to the Bush/Kerry election. So not exactly shy about letting his feelings be known in the US.
In fairness, it wouldn’t be like Heppo to let a few facts get in the way of one of his theories.
I think Springsteen has shown courage by recording this, as he must be aware of the backlash he might get from Trump and his supporters. But it’s hard to know if it’s going to change any minds or just provide some support for people who already agree with him about Trump (which is still something).
Being any sort of celebrity doesn’t disqualify you from taking political stances, but I never find much in anything most of them say. No real insight in most cases and really just telling you something about their supposed conscience.
One very major recent exception is Omid Djalili who from the start of the revolt in Iran has covered it on twitter as omid9, linking to Iranian commentary, when they could get still get it out there, and providing insight himself. He was ahead of most of the media in the UK at least and continues to take a lead.
Good for him. I hope the blowback isn’t too bad.
Had to laugh at the inevitable online reaction from the right, exhorting people to boycott his streams online and his physical back catalogue, as he sold the lot for $500m at the end of 2021 to Sony.
Bet his inner songwriter wishes it was all happening in a more rhyme-friendly city than Minneapolis.
At least it’s not Poughkeepsie (lived there for a while)
Certainly turned the Dylan up to 11.
Some pretty clunky lines there and not sure about the female backing. But as everyone says , good on him.
Completely agree. The BVs are awful and a basic Woodie Guthrie approach would have been much better. But even as someone who has never understood the big deal about Springsteen I would rather the song exist in this version than not at all.
I like the female backing vocals, gives it a gospelly feeling . I also think the organ at the end is reminiscent not only of Dylan but of the late Danny Federici. And it was all recorded in one day so good job
Bob Lefsetz suggested that they should do an all star cast à la we are the world only using an existing song. He suggested Edwin Starr’s War….iCE ! What is it good for …
I like the name-checking of Miller and Noem. Forever in a Springsteen lyric to be heard over and over for years to come.
How delightful for them and their families in future.
I see the Toddler in Chief has responded with his usual nuanced calm.
I think he made that statement last year when Bruce slagged him off at the Manchester gig.
Did he? Fair enough. I should keep closer tabs on his ramblings, if only out of a sense of morbid curiosity,