Streets of Minneapolis: Difference between revisions

2026 Bruce Springsteen song

“Streets of Minneapolis” is a protest song by American singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen. It was released in 2026, in response to the killing of Renée Good and the killing of Alex Pretti, which occurred during Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.^[3][2][4] Springsteen wrote and recorded the song following the killing of protesters by ICE and other federal agents, publishing it online four days after Pretti’s death. The song was released on Springsteen’s YouTube channel and social media, and through music streaming services.^[5]The song instantly became the number-one trending song in the United States on YouTube on the day of it’s release amassing over 1.9 million views by the end of the day.^[6]

In January 2026, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent over 3,000 agents to the Twin Cities in the upper Midwest as an escalation of Operation Metro Surge, an immigration-enforcement action.^[7] Agents clashed with protesters, killing Renée Good on January 7 and Alex Pretti on January 24.^[8][9]

On January 17, 2026, while performing at the Light of Day Winterfest in New Jersey, Springsteen spoke out against the operation and dedicated his performance of the song “The Promised Land” to Renée Good.^[10] Springsteen wrote “Streets of Minneapolis” on January 24, following the killing of Alex Pretti, and recorded it on January 27, releasing it the following day.^[1][11] The song’s title is a reference to “Streets of Philadelphia“, the Academy Award-winning song Springsteen wrote for the 1993 film Philadelphia, an early film discussing the HIV/AIDS crisis.^[11]

National Public Radio described it as “a full-band rock and roll song, complete with an E Street Choir singalong. Springsteen’s raw and raspy voice is full of indignation as he calls out ‘King Trump‘ and his ‘federal thugs‘, and promises to remember the events unfolding in the streets of Minneapolis this winter. The verses narrate the killings of Good and Pretti respectively, and underline how eyewitness videos of their deaths contradict government officials’ statements”.^[12]

The Minneapolis Star Tribune described it as being in the “folk tradition … detailing an injustice like Bob Dylan‘s ‘Hurricane‘ or ‘The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll‘ … [that] starts out with minimalist strum and tambourine for the first verse and then a full band kicks in. When the song builds to the chorus, the Boss is joined by female vocalists. There is a harmonica bridge before he rails about being deported on sight if your skin is Black or brown.”^[13] The lyrics characterize ICE agents as mercenaries for hire (a “private army”), and Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem‘s accounts of the killings as “dirty lies”.^[14]