Bruce Springsteen today released a new song titled “Streets Of Minneapolis,” written and recorded extremely quickly as a reaction to what he called “the state terror being exercised on the city of Minneapolis.” The New Jersey artist dedicated it to the city itself, to our innocent immigrant neighbors and to the memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, the two citizens killed in the street by federal immigration agents.
Listen to the song below.
In a statement, Springsteen said he composed the song last Saturday, recorded it the following day and made it public immediately in response to “the state terror that is affecting the city of Minneapolis.” He wanted to dedicate it to the people of Minneapolis, “to our innocent immigrant neighbors and to the memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good”.
The song, partly acoustic, immediately brings to mind Springsteen's “Streets Of Philadelphia”, his famous song about AIDS used in the soundtrack of the film “Philadelphia”. Here too the setting is bare and painful, but the context is openly political and allows no extenuating circumstances. Springsteen makes no concessions to anyone and unambiguously chants “ICE out now”, transforming the refrain into a protest slogan.
In the text, Minneapolis is described as “a city on fire”, the scene of a clash between “fire and ice under the boots of an occupier”, identified as “King Trump's private army”, i.e. the Department of Homeland Security forces that arrived in the city “to enforce the law” (“A city aflame fought fire and ice/ 'Neath an occupier's boots, King Trump's private army from the DHS./ Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law”). The image is that of a militarized city, treated as hostile territory rather than as a civil community.
Springsteen explicitly mentions and pays homage to the two dead killed by ICE agents, inserting their names into a sung commentary that takes on the tone of an indictment: “Against the smoke and rubber bullets/ At the crack of dawn/ Citizens stood for justice/ Their voices rang out in the night/ And there were bloody footprints/ Where there should have been mercy/ And two dead men left to die on snowy streets/ Alex Pretti and Renee Good” (“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”).
In the next step the target becomes the system and its official narrative. Springsteen dismantles the version of self-defense and contrasts the statements of political leaders with the evidence produced by citizens: “Their claim was self defense, sir/ Don't believe your eyes/ It's our blood and bones/ And these whistles and phones/ Against Miller and Noem's dirty lies.” Everyday technology, telephones and amateur filming become tools of resistance against power and its version of events.
The song ends with a declaration of memory and responsibility: “We'll remember the names of those who died/ On the streets of Minneapolis”).
The Boss also returned to the topic live. During his performance at the Light of Day Festival in New Jersey, he had addressed very harsh words against the operations of the federal agency ICE: “If you believe in democracy, in freedom, if you think that the truth still matters, that it is worth talking about and fighting for, if you believe in the force of the law and that no one is above it, if you oppose heavily armed and masked federal troops invading American cities using Gestapo tactics against our fellow citizens, if you believe that we should not be killed for exercising the American right to protest, then send this president a message.”
During the same concert, Springsteen also quoted the words of the mayor of Minneapolis, reiterating the demand that ICE leave the city, and dedicated “The Promised Land” to the memory of Renee Good, killed earlier this month by a federal agent: “I know this is for you, and in the memory of Renee Good, a mother of three and an American citizen.”
Antonio Santini for SANREMO.FM
