[includes lyrics plus article from NPR] January 29, 2026
We publish below the lyrics of a new song Bruce Spingsteen released on January 28, 2026. The Boss, as the singer is known, released “Streets of Minneapolis” as part of a protest movement across the United States demanding an end to the terror unleashed by the Trump administration through its Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol thugs against undocumented immigrants and all working people.
We also publish an article first released by National Public Radio (NPR) News announcing the song’s debut.
I described it to a friend as “sounding like a parody” which I imagine is the same thing you’re hearing. I would never have guessed this was a Springsteen song if I heard it in passing, it lacks so much of what made him good.
I love the message and truly believe he made it for the right reasons (not a Cash grab) but…the song is not good. The melody isn’t catchy and the instrumentation is generic. The vocals are worst part - made even worse by the mixing. There was one part where his voice wobbles badly that made me think the engineers in the booth were just too afraid to ask a musical legend to do a second take.
Singers who are that far “past heir prime” need to give up on super crisp and clean vocal recording. Some muddiness would go a LONG way.
It’s funny: I agree with you but for inverse (sort of) reasons.
The music, for me, is fine; maybe not what I would’ve gone for in the current climate but fairly distinctly Bruce Springsteen and he’s done a lot with simple melodies a good amount of times. Sort of reminds me of “The Line”, off of The Ghost of Tom Joad, or some other stuff he’s done before that I can’t quite place my finger on.
It’s those lyrics; when I heard he wrote it so quickly, I was kinda like, “Yeah; this certainly feels rushed…” Especially from the artist where the writing is, generally, the most outstanding part of any song he does. I could be wrong as I’m mostly going off of my first impression but it just feels massively less inpactful than his past work. Like he slapped lyrics together so quickly that they don’t even properly fit the tune of the song (that moment in the first verse where he stretches “story” out into three syllables kills me).
That is a great observation. I don’t feel like relistening but I’m wondering if it’s the part that made me mention doing another take - it sounded like he got tickled mid sentence
Welcome to folk music dude. Some of us like it.
If you want an overly produced pop track with 15 vocals stacked on top of each other in perfect harmony you’re not gonna get it released two days after the song was written.
You misunderstand my criticism if you think I’m saying it needs more production. I’m saying the vocals would be better if they sounded less produced. The super clean vocal recording/mixing it uses is a hallmark of pop, not folk.
Folk hooks are also just as catchy as any other genre but this song just isn’t very catchy.
I am not saying you shouldn’t like it, either. I’m glad it resonates with people. I just think it’s mediocrity of being ignored because the message is good and he’s a famous musician. If it was some random dude, no one would be praising it
This exactly. I’m glad he made it, but I’d rather hear Gillian Welch do it
I’m an old-time singer, fiddler, and banjo player. Bruce isn’t attempting folk