Five songs that prove Bruce Springsteen has always been political
Bruce Springsteen has found himself in hot water over the past few days, as during his shows in Manchester, he has been incredibly vocal about his president, Donald Trump. During intermittent periods of his shows, Springsteen addressed the crowds and made his thoughts on the man in charge of his home country known. “In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years,” he said, “Is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.”
Donald Trump has never been afraid to make his opinion known, and after finding out about Springsteen’s comments, he took to social media to share his rebuttal. “I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States,” he said, “Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country.”
Bruce Springsteen’s comments shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. He has always been a very political person and has used his platform, music, and stage presence to make his opinion on politics known. This was present on his debut album and continues on his current live tour.
If you go through his discography, you’ll find plenty of different Springsteen songs that see him take a solid political stance. These are five of his very best and most political, and they span the entirety of his career.
Bruce Springsteen’s most political songs
‘Lost In The Flood’
If you ever needed proof that Bruce Springsteen has always been a political artist, then look no further than his debut album, Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ. While the album isn’t overtly political, there are some songs that hint at the singer’s desire to speak more about the socio-political state of the world. On his song ‘Lost In The Flood’, he does this by writing from the point of view of a soldier.
Springsteen wrote the song from the point of view of a soldier returning home from the Vietnam War. Instead of finding his welcoming home, the soldier is overwhelmed by the country in ruins, as he looks upon gang violence, drug addiction and corruption. The song questions the values he was protecting, and sets Springsteen up as a political artist.
‘Roulette’
The idea that Bruce Springsteen only recently spoke up politically to endorse Kamala Harris is laughable. The first time he made his political views known was in 1979, when he participated in the No Nukes concerts throughout September and wrote the politically charged song ‘Roulette’.
The message behind the song was clear, as Springsteen wrote from the point of view of people who had to leave their homes because of a nuclear emergency and didn’t know what might happen to them or their loved ones. It’s one of the hardest-hitting political tracks Springsteen ever recorded.
‘Born In The USA’
When ‘Born In The USA’ was initially released, many people thought it was patriotic; however, it was the exact opposite. The song was written about Vietnam veterans and the problems that they faced when they returned from war, such as dealing with post-traumatic stress and coming to terms with whatever injuries they might have incurred during the war.
Springsteen got the idea for the song when he met veteran Ron Kovic and visited a centre for people returning from war. “I’m usually pretty easy with people, but once we were at the centre, I didn’t know how to respond to what I was seeing,” he said. “Talking about my own life to these guys seemed frivolous. There was homelessness and drug problems and post-traumatic stress – guys my age dealing with life-changing physical injuries.”
‘Long Walk Home’
Donald Trump isn’t the first president that Bruce Springsteen has been critical of. He was very vocal about George W Bush and his work as the president. His 2007 album, Magic, was one of his most politically driven, as he sang about Bush and the people who endorsed him and allowed him to pass the laws he did.
Any song from this record could be picked as a good representation of how political an artist Bruce Springsteen is, but one of the best is his track ‘Long Walk Home’. The long walk in the track refers not only to the narrator’s journey back to their house but also to the walk America will have to do in a bid to return to its core values.
‘American Skin (41 Shots)’
One of Springsteen’s most controversial political tracks led to him losing a large portion of his fan base: the police department. He wrote a track about Amadou Diallo, who is the unnamed Guinean immigrant who was killed by four New York police officers in 1999.
Those offended by the track should have listened before deciding that they didn’t like it, as Bruce Springsteen was incredibly sympathetic towards the police in the track. He took a centrist stance, understanding the police but also incredibly outraged by the tragedy. He performed the track a number of times on his Wrecking Ball tour.
