In de jaren 60 was er niet zo heel veel voor nodig om een protestsong te schrijven. Nu was de tijd er ook naar. De Vietnam oorlog, de koude oorlog, ongelijkheid, discriminatie, bekrompenheid en zo kan ik nog wel even door gaan. Redenen genoeg om een vlijmscherpe protestsong te schrijven. De protestsong werd een genre en een krachtig middel om misstanden aan de kaak te stellen.
De meeste protestzangers van weleer zijn niet meer onder ons, maken al lang geen muziek meer of houden zich realtief stil (Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Joan Baez). Gelukkig is er nog iemand op wie we wel kunnen rekenen: Bruce Springsteen. The Boss kwam gisteren met The Streets Of Minneapolis op de proppen en de song voert inmiddels in heel wat landen de streaming charts aan.
Het Witte Huis, dat Springsteen eerder "just an outdated singer" noemde, heeft het uiteraard over een "irrelevant opinion and inaccurate information", maar de protestsong van Bruce Springsteen is in tekstueel opzicht alleen maar raak.
Protestsongs kregen in de jaren 60 en 70 de samenleving in beweging en droegen actief bij aan verandering. Hopelijk is The Streets Of Minneapolis een zetje in de rug van een ieder die genoeg heeft van de narcistische autocratie in de Verenigde Staten.
Through the winter's ice and cold
Down Nicollet Avenue
A city aflame fought fire and ice
'Neath an occupier's boots
King Trump's private army from the DHS
Guns belted to their coats
Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law
Or so their story goes
Against smoke and rubber bullets
In the dawn's early light
Citizens stood for justice
Their voices ringing through the night
And there were bloody footprints
Where mercy should have stood
And two dead, left to die on snow-filled streets
Alex Pretti and Renee Good
Oh, our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
We'll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
Here in our home, they killed and roamed
In the winter of '26
We'll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
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
Oh, our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Crying through the bloody mist
We'll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
Now they say they're here to uphold the law
But they trample on our rights
If your skin is black or brown, my friend
You can be questioned or deported on sight
In our chants of "ICE out now"
Our city's heart and soul persists
Through broken glass and bloody tears
On the streets of Minneapolis
Oh, our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
Here in our home, they killed and roamed
In the winter of '26
We'll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
We'll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
We'll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out (ICE out)
ICE out
