Bruce Springsteen performs on May 14, 2025
Getty Images
Bruce Springsteen released a new song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” rallying against what he called “the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis.”
No stranger to the protest song and long a voice for the voiceless, the musician pulls no punches in denouncing President Donald Trump, whom he refers to as “King Trump” and the Department of Homeland Security, which he refers to as Trump’s private army in the song. “Here in our home they killed and roamed, in the winter of ’26,” he sings.
In a statement, the musician said: “I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free, Bruce Springsteen.”
Pretti and Good were both slain by ICE agents on the streets of the city.
Springsteen has been building to this moment. In early January he dedicated a performance of his song “The Promised Land” to Good when he made an impromptu appearance at a New Jersey festival.
“If you believe in democracy, in liberty. If you believe that truth still matters, and that it’s worth speaking out, and it’s worth fighting for. If you believe in the power of the law and that no one stands above it. If you stand against heavily armed, masked, federal troops invading American cities, and using Gestapo tactics against our fellow citizens. If you believe you don’t deserve to be murdered for exercising your American right to protest; then send a message to this president. And as the mayor of that city has said, ICE should get the fuck out of Minneapolis,” he said on stage.
During his string of European tour dates last summer, Springsteen called audiences to action with his thoughts on the current state of United States. “A beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years is currently is the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous leader,” he said during one of the final shows in Milan. “Tonight we ask all of you who believe in democracy to rise with us, raise your voices and stand up against authoritarianism, and let freedom ring.”
The new song’s title calls back to Springsteen’s 1993, Oscar-winning song “Streets of Philadelphia,” the title song for the film “Philadelphia” about the AIDS crisis.
Listen to Streets of Minneapolis here.