Bruce Springsteen - The Streets of Minneapolis

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I don't think it's a technically great song. It's powerful, but it's awkward and sort of jammed together. That being said, the intent and emotion is powerful.

He released it in something like three days -- that's from reaction, composition, recording, through to editing and release. It's a product of that short process.

I don't doubt that this will be played a lot. I expect he'll refine and rerelease it at some point. People will remember it, and they will remember Good, Pretti, and ICE's role in those deaths. That was the goal, I think.

Yes that's the amazing part to me
And it absolutely means something to a lot of people

Is this a song that will still be playing a decade or two from now as one of his greatest? Not for its musicality.

But compared to how synthed, how many writers and producers, how much studio mixing time etc many top celeb musicians spend these days to get out an album that basically says nothing. What stands out to me is that he did this.

[Anonymous]

He performed a beautiful acoustic version of this song in Minneapolis yesterday. It was VERY well-received by the crowd.

[Anonymous]

I mean, it’s nothing like Streets of Philadelphia, and the guy is now 70?
For a 3 day effort and time, it’s good. It’s not great but can’t expect more in 3 days.

And it is good enough to get people to keep on talking about the horrific acts of ICE and the Trump administration that directs it.

I’m amazed and impressed by his initiative, his passion, and his commitment to speaking up and speaking the truth. I’m not even a Springsteen fan.

That’s what’s happening here. There are a lot of risks to speaking up in the US these days. But he’s not keeping his head down low. He’s speaking up and out in the best way he can.

We should applaud him for that even if you hate his past or current songs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean, it’s nothing like Streets of Philadelphia, and the guy is now 70?
For a 3 day effort and time, it’s good. It’s not great but can’t expect more in 3 days.

And it is good enough to get people to keep on talking about the horrific acts of ICE and the Trump administration that directs it.

I’m amazed and impressed by his initiative, his passion, and his commitment to speaking up and speaking the truth. I’m not even a Springsteen fan.

That’s what’s happening here. There are a lot of risks to speaking up in the US these days. But he’s not keeping his head down low. He’s speaking up and out in the best way he can.

We should applaud him for that even if you hate his past or current songs.

Plenty of pro-Conservative songs released after various events. So what? It’s what artists do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, it’s nothing like Streets of Philadelphia, and the guy is now 70?
For a 3 day effort and time, it’s good. It’s not great but can’t expect more in 3 days.

And it is good enough to get people to keep on talking about the horrific acts of ICE and the Trump administration that directs it.

I’m amazed and impressed by his initiative, his passion, and his commitment to speaking up and speaking the truth. I’m not even a Springsteen fan.

That’s what’s happening here. There are a lot of risks to speaking up in the US these days. But he’s not keeping his head down low. He’s speaking up and out in the best way he can.

We should applaud him for that even if you hate his past or current songs.

Plenty of pro-Conservative songs released after various events. So what? It’s what artists do.

It’s the fact that it is anti Trump and it is/has been risky to go against him in publicly due to fear of retaliation.
Hence Amazon giving Melania $40 million to make a vapid film and other corporate and artist a**kissers (looking at you Nicki Minaj).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, it’s nothing like Streets of Philadelphia, and the guy is now 70?
For a 3 day effort and time, it’s good. It’s not great but can’t expect more in 3 days.

And it is good enough to get people to keep on talking about the horrific acts of ICE and the Trump administration that directs it.

I’m amazed and impressed by his initiative, his passion, and his commitment to speaking up and speaking the truth. I’m not even a Springsteen fan.

That’s what’s happening here. There are a lot of risks to speaking up in the US these days. But he’s not keeping his head down low. He’s speaking up and out in the best way he can.

We should applaud him for that even if you hate his past or current songs.

Plenty of pro-Conservative songs released after various events. So what? It’s what artists do.

It’s the fact that it is anti Trump and it is/has been risky to go against him in publicly due to fear of retaliation.
Hence Amazon giving Melania $40 million to make a vapid film and other corporate and artist a**kissers (looking at you Nicki Minaj).

Plenty of conservative artists released anti-Biden music during his term. Being edgy means you take risks in offending the powerful. Springsteen’s song is a money grab and a chance to get his song as the anti-ICE anthem.

[Anonymous]

Such a loser.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean, it’s nothing like Streets of Philadelphia, and the guy is now 70?
For a 3 day effort and time, it’s good. It’s not great but can’t expect more in 3 days.

And it is good enough to get people to keep on talking about the horrific acts of ICE and the Trump administration that directs it.

I’m amazed and impressed by his initiative, his passion, and his commitment to speaking up and speaking the truth. I’m not even a Springsteen fan.

That’s what’s happening here. There are a lot of risks to speaking up in the US these days. But he’s not keeping his head down low. He’s speaking up and out in the best way he can.

We should applaud him for that even if you hate his past or current songs.

He's 76.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, it’s nothing like Streets of Philadelphia, and the guy is now 70?
For a 3 day effort and time, it’s good. It’s not great but can’t expect more in 3 days.

And it is good enough to get people to keep on talking about the horrific acts of ICE and the Trump administration that directs it.

I’m amazed and impressed by his initiative, his passion, and his commitment to speaking up and speaking the truth. I’m not even a Springsteen fan.

That’s what’s happening here. There are a lot of risks to speaking up in the US these days. But he’s not keeping his head down low. He’s speaking up and out in the best way he can.

We should applaud him for that even if you hate his past or current songs.

Plenty of pro-Conservative songs released after various events. So what? It’s what artists do.

It’s the fact that it is anti Trump and it is/has been risky to go against him in publicly due to fear of retaliation.
Hence Amazon giving Melania $40 million to make a vapid film and other corporate and artist a**kissers (looking at you Nicki Minaj).

Plenty of conservative artists released anti-Biden music during his term. Being edgy means you take risks in offending the powerful. Springsteen’s song is a money grab and a chance to get his song as the anti-ICE anthem.

Offending Trump means risking being targeted for retaliation by Trump, whether on social media or in real life.
Offending Biden did not.

Not the same level of risk.
And I don’t think Springsteen needs more money. I think he is true in his intentions.

If the previous statement is inaccurate, please share an example of an Anti Biden song that lead to retaliation by the Biden administration, with evidence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Born to Run His Mouth

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/free-expression/born-to-run-his-mouth-d0da2a4a?st=xrPebu&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Paywall. What’s the hot take? That entertainers should simply entertain and shut up?

That should be a gift link.

Requires signup. TLR?

The best thing Bruce Springsteen ever did was admit he was a phoney.
It was a late-career reveal that endeared him to me—a fan grown weary of his aggressive partisanship.

In his 2016 autobiography, Mr. Springsteen confessed that he wasn’t the working class hero he’d always pretended to be. That blue-collar persona was borrowed from his father, who, in Mr. Springsteen’s telling, was a complicated and difficult man.

My sense is that Mr. Springsteen likes complicated and difficult men. His songs are filled with them. Screw-ups who can’t get their lives on track. Men crippled by heartbreak or haunted by demons, for whom daily survival is hard work. He loves those guys.

What he doesn’t love is anyone who disagrees with him politically.

On Wednesday, Mr. Springsteen released a new song, “The Streets of Minneapolis.” As the title suggests, it was recorded in a hurry and aimed at the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. You won’t be the least bit surprised by the undercooked lyrics or the overcooked delivery.

Mr. Springsteen’s disdain for Republicans predates MAGA. He called George W. Bush and Dick Cheney monsters. He accused them of torturing the Constitution and blackening the soul of America—“a generous nation,” as he wrote in a letter endorsing Barack Obama in 2008, “with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems.”

The thing about generosity is that it isn’t really generosity if it doesn’t extend to those with whom you disagree. Same for empathy. Same for nuance.

I think most Americans accept that immigration is a complex problem. We don’t want to break up families and ruin lives. But we do need to have a border, and we do need to have laws. If there were an easy solution we’d have cracked it by now.

Of course, Mr. Springsteen thinks there is an easy solution: Let ’em in and leave ’em alone. That’s a point of view, and he’s welcome to it. He’s also welcome to acknowledge that his wealth and fame insulate him from the consequences of an open border. He never does.

In a different world, the ICE and Border Patrol agents involved in the Minneapolis shootings might make sympathetic subjects for a Springsteen song. They are working-class guys, probably. Military veterans, in some cases. They may have gone to college, though probably not to Yale.

Mr. Springsteen won’t agree, but I’d guess most of them joined ICE or Border Patrol for the right reasons—that is, out of a genuine desire to serve.

They may have been poorly trained. They may have made mistakes under impossible pressure. No way did they wake up expecting to kill someone that day. In fact, I’d bet they’re heartbroken about the deaths of Pretti and Good.

But to believe that you’d have to believe in complexity and nuance.

Mr. Springsteen prefers the comfort of his anger. He’d rather have the moral certainty of blind loyalty to partisan absolutes. Those agents aren’t real people to him. They aren’t veterans and patriots. They aren’t fathers, husbands and sons.

No, they’re “federal thugs.” They’re “King Trump’s private army.”

Strange that a guy so adept at painting colorful portraits of complex and difficult men would be content to work only with black and white. I liked him better when he knew he was a phony.

Yeah, that’s a hot take alright. Should I write an article about how this slop is exactly the sort of disingenuous crap I’d expect in the WSJ and how I preferred it when they stayed in their lane?

Stay angry, Bruce.

WSJ Opinion has always been extremist right wing propaganda.

Imagine the brain rot required to claim that someone telling his own father's story in art is "phoney".
Republicans hate Americans and see America only as a crowd of marks to exploit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, it’s nothing like Streets of Philadelphia, and the guy is now 70?
For a 3 day effort and time, it’s good. It’s not great but can’t expect more in 3 days.

And it is good enough to get people to keep on talking about the horrific acts of ICE and the Trump administration that directs it.

I’m amazed and impressed by his initiative, his passion, and his commitment to speaking up and speaking the truth. I’m not even a Springsteen fan.

That’s what’s happening here. There are a lot of risks to speaking up in the US these days. But he’s not keeping his head down low. He’s speaking up and out in the best way he can.

We should applaud him for that even if you hate his past or current songs.

Plenty of pro-Conservative songs released after various events. So what? It’s what artists do.

It’s the fact that it is anti Trump and it is/has been risky to go against him in publicly due to fear of retaliation.
Hence Amazon giving Melania $40 million to make a vapid film and other corporate and artist a**kissers (looking at you Nicki Minaj).

Plenty of conservative artists released anti-Biden music during his term. Being edgy means you take risks in offending the powerful. Springsteen’s song is a money grab and a chance to get his song as the anti-ICE anthem.

Why are Republicans afraid of free speech?

Sorry your MAGA "artists" are so untalented and unpopular that they couldn't make money by making art.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bruce Springsteen just released this very powerful song about the tragedies in Minneapolis. There are no mincing of words and I hope it becomes a rallying song like so many from the 60s/70s. Incredibly, this was made in a very very short period of time.

https://bsky.app/profile/brucespringsteen.net/post/3mdiqtpf5qk2e

I remember when Alan Jackson quickly released his 9/11 song in the wake of that tragedy. Musicians know how to capitalize on tragedies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, it’s nothing like Streets of Philadelphia, and the guy is now 70?
For a 3 day effort and time, it’s good. It’s not great but can’t expect more in 3 days.

And it is good enough to get people to keep on talking about the horrific acts of ICE and the Trump administration that directs it.

I’m amazed and impressed by his initiative, his passion, and his commitment to speaking up and speaking the truth. I’m not even a Springsteen fan.

That’s what’s happening here. There are a lot of risks to speaking up in the US these days. But he’s not keeping his head down low. He’s speaking up and out in the best way he can.

We should applaud him for that even if you hate his past or current songs.

Plenty of pro-Conservative songs released after various events. So what? It’s what artists do.

It’s the fact that it is anti Trump and it is/has been risky to go against him in publicly due to fear of retaliation.
Hence Amazon giving Melania $40 million to make a vapid film and other corporate and artist a**kissers (looking at you Nicki Minaj).

Plenty of conservative artists released anti-Biden music during his term. Being edgy means you take risks in offending the powerful. Springsteen’s song is a money grab and a chance to get his song as the anti-ICE anthem.

So every artist who does this is engaging in a money grab or just when they align with or as seen as supportive of progressive causes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, it’s nothing like Streets of Philadelphia, and the guy is now 70?
For a 3 day effort and time, it’s good. It’s not great but can’t expect more in 3 days.

And it is good enough to get people to keep on talking about the horrific acts of ICE and the Trump administration that directs it.

I’m amazed and impressed by his initiative, his passion, and his commitment to speaking up and speaking the truth. I’m not even a Springsteen fan.

That’s what’s happening here. There are a lot of risks to speaking up in the US these days. But he’s not keeping his head down low. He’s speaking up and out in the best way he can.

We should applaud him for that even if you hate his past or current songs.

Plenty of pro-Conservative songs released after various events. So what? It’s what artists do.

It’s the fact that it is anti Trump and it is/has been risky to go against him in publicly due to fear of retaliation.
Hence Amazon giving Melania $40 million to make a vapid film and other corporate and artist a**kissers (looking at you Nicki Minaj).

Plenty of conservative artists released anti-Biden music during his term. Being edgy means you take risks in offending the powerful. Springsteen’s song is a money grab and a chance to get his song as the anti-ICE anthem.

So every artist who does this is engaging in a money grab or just when they align with or as seen as supportive of progressive causes?

Nothing wrong with supporting progressive or conservative causes. Supporting GOP or Dem causes is a jerk move.

[Anonymous]

I’ve been listening to the song on a loop for a week and I think it’s really good - I think most folks who don’t think so object to the politics in it, no different from those who hated his American Skin - 41 Shots. They are probably the same folks who listen to Born in the USA and think it’s a patriotic anthem.

Bruce may be very, very rich these days, but he’s still a working class kid from Jersey and he has his head on straight regarding American values and his obligations as an artist. He didn’t release Streets of Minneapolis (which is not at all comparable to Streets of Philadelphia, totally different vibe unsure why folks are so simple in conflating them because streets? Silly) to make money he doesn’t need. Bruce is a real American patriot.