New track from Springsteen responds to recent Minneapolis deaths during immigration raids
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Bruce Springsteen has released a newly written protest song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” responding to the recent deaths of two residents during federal immigration enforcement operations in the city.
The song was written, recorded and released over the course of a single weekend, beginning Saturday, Jan. 24, the day Alex Pretti was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents in south Minneapolis.
In a statement posted online, Springsteen said he wrote it “in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis,” and dedicated it to “the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors, and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good,” ending with the words, “Stay free.”
The lyrics directly confront the official account of Pretti’s killing and name political figures associated with federal immigration policy. In one verse, Springsteen sings:
“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.”
Springsteen released the track with an official audio video on his YouTube channel. It joins a growing wave of music from Minnesota and national artists responding to the shootings and to the expanding federal crackdown on immigrants, positioning the song as both a memorial and a direct political intervention.
Listen to the song below:
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