"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 adminstration."
With those words ushered on a stage in Manchester, England, Bruce Springsteen became public enemy #1 for the MAGA world. The feud really took off when the president responded to Springsteen's comments by calling him "Highly Overrated", "a pushy, obnoxious JERK" and a "dried out 'prune' of a rocker" who should "KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT".
Well, it doesn't look like that's going to happen any time soon. Springsteen has released Land of Hope & Dreams, a new EP that contains four songs ("Land of Hope & Dreams", "Long Walk Home", "My City of Ruins" and "Chimes of Freedom") all recorded live at the Manchester show - with the controversial introductions intact.
On the EP, Springsteen introduces the opening track: "Good evening! It's great to be in Manchester and back in the U.K. Welcome to the Land of Hope & Dreams tour. The Mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock and roll in dangerous times."
His words spread across the world shortly after speaking them. One week later, a social media post about a Springsteen tribute band having their show canceled went viral among the New Jersey music community.
Guy Fleming of the Bruce Springsteen tribute band, No Surrender, revealed that his band was booked to play at Riv's Toms River Hub on May 30th. But the owner told him Springsteen's recent comments in Europe bothered him and the band was no longer welcome to play in his club.
This renewed the decades old debate about Springsteen lyrics and how they have been misinterpreted over the years. "Born in the USA" is likely the most prominent example. The song has been used by politicians ever since its initial release, but behind the jingoistic sounding chorus is biting criticism of war. Politicians from Ronald Reagan to Donald Trump have used the song at campaign rallies. Yes, even Donald Trump - the man who ranted about him and posted a childish video of him hitting Springsteen with a golf ball - has used Bruce's music.
Throughout every social media site, fans of Springsteen pointed out that Bruce has been political throughout his career. He's never been shy about speaking his mind on stage or via his lyrics. The song introductions should not have taken anyone by surprise. And, instead of backing down, he's doubling down on the comments made in England by releasing the EP.
As the opening strands of "My City of Ruins" played behind him, Springsteen introduced the song with "There's some very weird, strange and dangerous shit going on out there right now."
"In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent," he continued. "This is happening now. In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world's poorest children to sickness and death. This is happening now. In my country, they're taking sadistic pleasure in the pain that they inflict on loyal American workers. They're rolling back historic Civil Rights legislation that led to a more just and plural society. They're abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom. They're defunding American universities that won't bow down to their ideological demands. They're removing residents off American streets and without due process of law are deporting them to foreign detention centers and prisons. This is all happening now. 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 of what it means to be deeply American. The America that I've sung to you about for fity 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.'"
As for the band No Surrender (who evolved from the band Asbury Fever), Fleming's post is still making its way across social media. As of May 22nd, No Surrender was still listed on the bar's entertainment calendar online, but even though the band tried coming to an agreement with the owner they will not be playing.
"We understood it was his establishment, and felt terrible he was that upset. We offered to play completely different music," wrote Fleming. "Explaining to him that all nine people in the band are professional musicians that play in numerous different bands, and when you book us months in advance, we blackout those dates as booked. And when you cancel a week in advance, it financially hurts the musicians in the band because they lose a days pay if they can’t find another gig."
He continued, "I explained to the owner that he wasn’t hurting Bruce, but he was hurting nine New Jersey musicians he booked to play at his club. He said, 'his clientele and Toms River is red and won’t tolerate his bullshit.' I explained that we wouldn’t play any Springsteen music. Still he said no."
I believe Bruce Springsteen deserves credit for speaking out, whether done on U.S. soil or abroad. It's unfortunate for acts like No Surrender who get caught in the crossfire, but we need Springsteen's voice. Bruce has a platform that few possess. In the first few months of the new administration we've seen law firms, universities, and media outlets silence themselves or bow to Trump's demands out of fear. Speaking out in today's world is a risk no matter does it.
Bruce is doing what he's always done, but now he's doing it in a different era - one that wants to silence dissenting voices. Here's hoping others add their voices.
