'The Boss?' More Like 'The Bitch.' Springsteen's Latest Insult to America.And if I had to hear it, so do you.Bruce ‘The Boss’ Springsteen apparently earned his alias by bilking fans and venues early in his career, in order to pay his bandmates. He’s spent the last several decades shaking down America, and his latest track – ‘Streets of Minneapolis' – is no different. No statement appears to have been made about the revenue generated from the new, anti-cop song. Springsteen will always find a way to turn tragedy into merchandise. ‘The Boss’ is again raking in cash made from his caterwauling, this time over dead left-wing agitators. He did the same thing during the 2024 election, raking in the best part of $100,000 from Kamala Harris’s Potemkin village of a campaign. This generic grift would be bad enough from the septuagenarian. Except this time it isn’t just accompanied by politically plagiarising someone else’s work, as he did with Bob Dylan’s Chimes of Freedom. This time, we have to hear a hastily cobbled together track which barely adheres to basic musical principles, in order to enrich a man who confesses that the only reason he’s not already a BILLIONAIRE is that he spends “too much money on superfluous things.” Streets of Minneapolis is, naturally, filled with craven falsehoods. Springsteen portrays Pretti as some harmless peacenik protester — a claim that collapsed almost immediately under the weight of police reports and video evidence. “I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday, and released it to you today…” Springsteen swelled on Wednesday, as if rushing out propaganda is a form of genius rather than negligence. The speed at which he pulled together the cliched melodies and a harmonica solo that sounds like it was lifted from outtakes from The Promised Land (1978) was part of its sales pitch. The song’s lyrics are as lazy as they are dangerous.“Aren’t I so BRILLIANT?!” is the implication. Here’s what this lyrical genius came up with: 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 Gosh, how envious Pericles would be. Given that Pretti had very recently assaulted officers while carrying his gun, it’s fair to say the self-defense element is obviously true. Peddling lies like this is as knowingly dangerous and duplicitous as Hakeem Jeffries telling reporters that DHS Secretary Kristi Noem needs to be “put on ice, permanently.” But it is the next part that is particularly objectionable, and runs contrary to the spirit of truth in music that “stars” like Springsteen profess to uphold. 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 Well, there’s no right to be in America illegally. And even if there were, no one is deporting “black or brown” people “on sight.” Anyone (yes, even white people!) can be “questioned,” so this part makes about as much sense as the entire basis of the song. As you’ve likely already figured out, Streets of Minneapolis is a culmination of Springsteen’s greed, his desperation to be taken seriously on grand political matters (versus, say, his early, local pro-union roots), as well as simply to gin up more violent discord in America. If more people are hurt, it is – just as in the cases of Good and Pretti – squarely the fault of the Springsteens of the world for radicalizing them into defending illegal criminal migrants, pedophiles, rapists, and fraudsters. It almost makes me feel sorry for them, that their death knell is the gravely crooning of a man whose fans just want to hear songs written half a century ago, rather than this dross. Still, at least they don’t have to hear it. Raheem Kassam's Substack is free today. But if you enjoyed this, you really should consider supporting our work! |