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The
lyrics of “Streets of Minneapolis,” released Wednesday, describe
how “a city aflame fought fire and ice ’neath an occupier’s
boots,” which Springsteen calls “King Trump’s private army.”
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.
“It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent
immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee
Good,” he wrote, naming the two victims.
Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson, responded: “The
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.”
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 “ICE Out!”
“Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice,” The Boss sings.
“Singing through the bloody mist/We’ll take our stand for this
land/And the stranger in our midst.”
The title echoes Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia,” which
served as a title song for the Tom Hanks-led 1993 film
“Philadelphia.” His song comes on the heels of English
singer-songwriter Billy Bragg’s own “City of Heroes,” 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 “the bravery of the people of Minneapolis.”
Springsteen has long been critical of the president, who in turn
has called the rock icon “overrated.” They last publicly clashed
last year, when Springsteen on tour in England told his audience
that America “is currently in the hands of a corrupt,
incompetent and treasonous administration.” Trump responded by
calling Springsteen a “dried out prune of a rocker.”
In related news, Minneapolis' First Avenue venue will host on
Friday the benefit “A Concert of Solidarity & Resistance to
Defend Minnesota,” featuring Tom Morello, Rise Against, Al Di
Meola and Ike Reilly. All proceeds will go to the families of
Good and Pretti.
“We 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,” Morello said in a
statement.
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