Fans of the legendary songwriter Bruce Springsteen hope his future tours leave out one song featured in every Land of Hope and Dreams tour date.
The Boss has been on the road since April, touring North America with a politically charged tour. His setlist has included the likes of Born in the U.S.A., a cover of The Clash‘s Clampdown, and a cover of Bob Dylan‘s Chimes of Freedom. Despite the brilliant, twenty-seven-song setlist, there is one track that fans are hoping not to hear from Springsteen for a long while. Fans took to the r/BruceSpringsteen subreddit and said that while they were against the Make America Great Again movement, they could do without hearing one song over and over.
The fan wrote: “I am anti-Trump/MAGA and all for protest music. I also never want to hear Streets of Minneapolis again. As I said, I love protest music. [Woody] Guthrie, [Pete] Seeger, and Dylan have been perhaps the biggest gifts in American music history. And indeed, The Boss himself has also contributed in no small amount.
“But Streets of Minneapolis does not leave you with the feeling of ‘we shall overcome’ when listening to it. It leaves you feeling depressed and hopeless. U2’s American Obituary, now that’s a current protest song I actually love. With its repeated refrain of ‘America will rise…'”
Another fan agreed, adding: “It’s a powerful fitting song for what is happening, but at the same time, I can’t say I like the song at the same time. But honestly, that’s okay, and not every protest song is going to end up being hopeful, some are just a jarring but accurate portrayal of real-world horrors, and there’s a space for both types.” A third added: “He wrote it in a day and it shows.”
Others believe the two fans missed the point of the power behind the song and Springsteen’s potent writing. One wrote: “Horrible take. As a Minnesotan, the song is very powerful. I was at his show in Minneapolis, which was also very powerful. Horrible take, guy.”
A second added: “I don’t get that feeling from it at all. I think it highlights the strength and fortitude of the people of Minneapolis. It makes me angry, and makes me want to fight back.” A third shared: “Seeing it live at the Atlanta concert was a powerful experience. It’s a necessary part of the show, we have to continually push back on human rights violations being normalised.”
Despite the power of protest and Springsteen’s decades of experience with writing such songs, some believe it does not reflect The Boss’ best writing. One person wrote: “You’ll get flamed here but the lyrics are clunky & forced, and the melody isn’t catchy.”
Another disagreed, adding: “It was written to be timely and is very powerful live. Don’t have much more of an opinion on it than that.”
Discover more from Cult Following
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
