Fans of the legendary musician Bruce Springsteen are hoping a recent cover of a Bob Dylan classic becomes a “regular” part of his live set.
The Boss’ trio of Co-Op Live Arena performances saw a stacked setlist filled with classics from his discography. Also included was a cover of Dylan, with Springsteen having previously played with and performed to the veteran songwriter over the years. His cover of The Times They Are A-Changin’ saw Springsteen play during an evening honouring Dylan, while the Glory Days songwriter played Forever Young at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. But a recent series of live shows on the Land of Hope and Dreams tour had Springsteen performing a Dylan classic to close out the night as he took aim at President Donald Trump. The 47th POTUS has hit back at Springsteen with a series of posts on his social media channel, Truth Social.
Springsteen has not relented, though, and fans are hoping his Dylan cover remains a regular part of his tour setlist this summer. Dates in France, Italy, and Spain are on the schedule as The Boss prepares for his next show in Lille. A recently released EP from Springsteen, Land of Hope and Dreams, featured the Dylan cover, a song he performed for the first time since 1986 at his first Co-Op Live Arena date.
Chimes of Freedom also featured at the end of his two follow-up gigs, with his three-night residency at Co-Op Live Arena faring well with critics and audiences alike. Springsteen has also garnered praise for his comments on the Trump administration.
On the first night of the show, Springsteen said: “Good Evening! It’s great to be in Manchester and back in the UK. Welcome to the Land of Hope and Dreams Tour!
“The mighty E St. Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock ‘n roll in dangerous times. In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.
“Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring!” When introducing the song City of Ruin, Springsteen called out the “dangerous shit” in America and warned there was an “unfit president and a rogue government” in charge.
He said: “A majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government. They have no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American.
“The America l’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real and regardless of its faults is a great country with a great people. So we’ll survive this moment. Now, I have hope, because I believe in the truth of what the great American writer James Baldwin said, he said ‘in this world there isn’t as much humanity as one would like, but there’s enough.’ Let’s pray.”
Fans are hoping the Chimes of Freedom cover, a fitting end to his performance on the Land of Hope and Dreams tour, remains a staple of his shows. Users of the r/BobDylan subreddit shared news of the EP release, with fans remaining keen to hear the Dylan cover on other tour dates.
One fan wrote: “I love that Springsteen brought the song out again and I hope he includes it as a regular part of his new tour. He released a live version of the song on an EP in the late ’80s as an Amnesty International benefit, which also included a really cool slow, solo acoustic version of Born to Run and a couple other live tracks.
“That EP itself was called Chimes of Freedom. I don’t know how often he covered the song back then – if it was a one-off performance or something he played a lot at the time. I got to hear Dylan perform the song one of the last times he played it in concert, in 2012. Always great to hear him play somewhat obscure gems in new arrangements.”
Another added: “Bruce’s cover of Chimes of Freedom in East Berlin in July 1988, about sixteen months before the fall of the Berlin Wall, was a transcendent moment.
“After the first Peccata Clamantia of Trump, I put Bob Dylan’s Chimes of Freedom in heavy rotation as a salve for the wound to liberal democracy. Tried it again on the second Peccata Clamantia, but I think something like N.W.A. might be more in line.”
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