Bruce Springsteen sings before he speaks: Manchester, Trump, and the power of opening songs
I’ve seen Bruce Springsteen live plenty of times, and while his setlists have never been that easy to predict, you can almost guarantee that he’ll open with ‘No Surrender’. This isn’t always the case, but it’s a great track to begin a set with, and the opening line of “We busted out of class, had to get away from those fools, we learned more from a three minute record baby than we ever learned in school,” sums up Springsteen’s attitude towards music pretty perfectly.
‘The Boss’ has found himself in a sticky situation recently, as following some of his comments made about Donald Trump during his Manchester shows, the President of the United States has published several rants on social media criticising Springsteen’s music and his opinions. While Springsteen writes a lot of political music, he doesn’t usually take time during his shows to talk about politics. However, fans at that Manchester show should have known how he was feeling that night when he didn’t open with ‘No Surrender’ and opted for two different, lesser-played tracks of his.
Bruce’s sentiment was clear: he doesn’t like Trump and thinks he’s corrupt. “In my home, the America I love,” he said, “The America I’ve written about, and has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.” This quote is perfectly reflected in Springsteen’s two opening numbers, both of which get his message across in a more artistic way.
On his first night in Manchester, Bruce Springsteen replaced the usual ‘No Surrender’ with his song ‘Land of Hope and Dreams’. A recording of this performance has since been released on streaming services and it won’t surprise you to hear, Springsteen and the E Street Band absolutely nail it. The grit in his voice is laced with pain and sorrow, while he sings about the America that he loves.
The first time that Springsteen performed this song was in 1999, and it was dedicated to America’s immigrants. The lyrics try to encapsulate the mixed bag that America is, but the pride he feels in that all are welcome, as he sings, “This train carries saints and sinners, this train carriers loser and winners, this carries whores and gamblers, this train carries lost souls.” He reworked the track and released it in 2012 on the Wrecking Ball album, and this rendition incorporated sections from Curtis Mayfield’s ‘People Get Ready’.
If we break down Bruce Springsteen’s comments on Trump, his track ‘Land of Hope and Dreams’ embodies the first half of it. “In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years…” This song is a representation of the hope and love that Springsteen has for the USA and why he is such a champion of the States in that regard. 00
His second song of the night, which he played immediately after the rather poignant opener, was the even more potent ‘Death to My Hometown’. This was another track that Springsteen released on his 2012 Wrecking Ball album, and it’s an incredibly moving and sad song about the struggles that America goes through. On the track, Springsteen talks about a community ravaged by a Civil War, and he blames bankers and politicians (or, as he describes them, Robber Barons) for the destruction of the community.
It’s an incredibly moving song that uses musical influences from different moments in time to highlight how timeless corruption is. “I used a lot of music from the 1800s and the 1930s to show these things are cyclical,” said Springsteen, “The album is resonant with history.”
Playing this song second represents the second half of Bruce Springsteen’s comments. “…is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.” What he said shouldn’t come as a surprise to people. Springsteen has been advocating for left-wing politics for as long as he has had a platform, and by opening with these two songs in Manchester, he had already made his point before he even said anything.
Springsteen has wanted to write music that conveys an honest reflection of the world around him ever since he originally started making music. Artists like Bob Dylan were an inspiration, who could make you feel uncomfortable in their unwavering honesty about how they saw the world around them. The views he expressed have been his views for as long as he has been in the public eye, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise to people that he’s anti-Trump. The only difference is that rather than speaking, he normally lets his music do the talking. However, Springsteen had already said everything he had to with his opening new songs, and it was there to be heard for all those who were listening.
