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Listen to this track by the New Jersey-born protest singing Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. It’s “Streets of Minneapolis”, a single Springsteen wrote the Saturday before last (January 24, 2026), recorded by Tuesday (January 27), and put out the next day. The song is his reaction to what’s happening in the titular city as ICE goons terrorize the city at the behest of a cruel and stupid US federal government by kidnapping people from their jobs, schools, and homes, even their cars, and resorting to murder in the streets.

The news coming out of Minneapolis has shocked the world. Springsteen saw what was happening and, being a quintessential songwriter with a deep and heartfelt investment in the American experience, poured all his anger, insight, and admiration of the common people into this song about rage and active resistance. The tune is a bona fide old school folk protest song hearkening back to the style laid down by Bob Dylan during his earliest period in writing and singing topical songs coming out of the headlines during the 1960s when times were a-changing.

In 2026, those headlines tend to come from more digitally-based sources. Yet even in this era of disinformation due to how easy it is to spread lies and misinformation on the internet, this song rings with truth. The retelling of events can be corroborated by many, particularly potent in this case when coming from the people who live in Minneapolis and have seen events unfold with their own eyes. In many instances, they’ve recorded incidents of brutality, ignorance, and criminality on ICE’s part with their phones. Millions of people everywhere are keeping up on social media.

One of the blessings and curses of this digital era is that messages can be generated and distributed quickly on social media platforms and other outlets. By Springsteen’s own words on his website, he made good use of these highly efficient means himself to get his song to the masses in a way that’s never been possible in other times in history:

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 and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free, Bruce Springsteen (visit the page)

Springsteen pulls no punches as he sings of violence and injustice at the hands of ICE in Minneapolis in January of 2026, and where struggles continue today at the time of this writing. He names names, including those of “King Trump”, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem and all their vicious minions as the perpetrators of brutality, lies, and terror against American citizens and their immigrant neighbours. This violence includes the kidnappings of children as well as their parents.

The song also includes the names of Renee Good and Alex Pretti; two people murdered by lawless, masked thugs during the occupation of the city for no reason other than hatred and fear. Spurious, insulting claims of self defence followed those murders at the highest levels of the American federal government, standing in direct opposition to all evidence to the contrary.

“Streets of Minneapolis” is a miracle in its execution from a master of the craft, being the product of an extraordinary turnaround from conception to writing to recording to distribution. Its message did not go unnoticed. “Streets of Minneapolis” scored millions of plays on YouTube alone, being the number one trending track the day it came out, amassing almost two million views before the end of the day. As this piece is being written, plays have more than doubled.

Bruce Springsteen performing at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington on February 27th, 2023. image: Dharmabumstead.

Bruce Springsteen has made a career of singing about everyday people who come to moments of truth when they must decide what they want their lives to be. With this song, and with the events as they have unfolded in real life, this narrative has become a visceral manifestation of what he’s been writing about since he began his career. It’s as if the characters of Springsteen’s songs and the audience who have celebrated them for decades have melded into one.

Springsteen’s mythical narratives in song became instantly and materially validated as everyday people come together in a city under siege to defend each other and champion a better vision of what life in their city and in their country should be. That seed was always there in Springsteen’s music; that there is power and profundity to be found in the heart of the common person. At least a portion of the joy in hearing this outraged and compassionate protest song that’s also so full of admiration of the people comes from that realization.

The artist’s intent in writing, recording, and putting it out was also validated and fully realized in a way that isn’t normally accomplished so precisely. Springsteen dedicated the song to the people of Minneapolis. Out of the millions of people who have heard it by now, he wanted Minneapolitans to hear it the most. He wanted them to know that they are in the right, and that the struggles they face together are acknowledged, appreciated, and admired.

By all the comments on the video for this song alone, that goal was accomplished and then some. The people heard it. They know. And they have been built up and strengthened by it even as those in the seats of power in the US federal government who are unworthy of the power they hold continue to try to weigh them down. This impact, this knowledge, is a rare and precious thing.

A song cannot change the world. Only people can do that. But songs can help provide the fuel for the people to get there. Songs can act as a healing balm. They can be a source of validation and act as a witness to truth, justice, and (in this case) the American way. That is yet another aspect of this, of course. America is infused with harmful mythologies about itself; romanticized visions of what people wish things to be, not as they are.

State violence in the United States against its own people is not new. Black, Brown, and Indigenous Americans of multiple generations and across eras have had a very different experience from their white neighbours on that score. As the city of Minneapolis and a nation as a whole mourns Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and as we remember Keith Porter who was also murdered by an ICE agent in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve 2025, getting off of the path of fascism must include an acknowledgement that mythologies of a monolithic national identity are volatile elements. They can only lead to destruction and tragedy. This has to be addressed, not just in America, but in every country.

With greater wisdom, leaving old stories behind in favour of newer, truer ones will become more necessary than ever before as the times keep a-changing in our own era. Whether we’re American or not, we’ll need artists to help us get there from Springsteen on down. In the meantime, when it comes to this powerful and quickly delivered musical statement intended to be and succeeding in becoming a healing agent to those to whom it’s dedicated, what else can any of us say but: thanks, Boss.

Bruce Springsteen is an active songwriter and performer today. Learn more about him at brucespringsteen.net.

It should also be said that The Bard of Barking himself, Billy Bragg, also put out a song within a very short time frame in January 2026 dedicated to the people of Minneapolis. It’s called “City of Heroes”, which you should definitely listen to right here.

Enjoy!

#2020sMusic #AmericanCulture #BruceSpringsteen #protestMusic #ProtestSongs