With a song that didn’t wait for a polished album cycle or an extensive promotional tour, Springsteen returned to form amid political fury and frosty glass. “Streets of Minneapolis” came out quickly; it was written on Saturday, recorded on Sunday, and released on Monday. It felt less like a marketing decision and more like a reflex. And that’s exactly how protest songs are supposed to operate.
The track features all the trademarks of a Springsteen protest ballad: a rolling organ melody, a choir pulsating behind raw vocals, and lyrics that refuse to be diplomatic. The opening line of his gravel-worn yet undeniably urgent voice is, “Through the winter’s ice and cold / Down Nicollet Avenue.” From the first lyric, it’s a song about geography and ghosts.
Two names constitute the song’s emotional spine—Alex Pretti and Renee Macklin Good, both killed during brutal immigration raids by federal officials earlier that month. Their stories, caught partly on eyewitness phone footage, contradict government accounts. Springsteen makes no effort to be subtle. He uses the cruel statement, “Just don’t believe your eyes,” in verse to undermine the notion of self-defense. That line lingers in your mind longer than it ought to.
At one point, Springsteen’s harmonica plays like a siren, filling the void left by words with emotion. The sound is thick, stretched out, almost like mourning in real time. It brought to mind his previous song, “American Skin (41 Shots),” which he wrote in reaction to Amadou Diallo’s murder in 1999. Another year, the same pain.
| Song Title | Artist | Release Date | Theme | Notable Subjects | External Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Streets of Minneapolis | Bruce Springsteen | January 28, 2026 | Protest against ICE violence and state terror | Alex Pretti, Renee Macklin Good, Donald Trump | BruceSpringsteen.net |
| Section | Lyrics |
|---|---|
| Verse 1 | 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 |
| Verse 2 | Against smoke and rubber bullets In the dawn’s early light Citizens stood for justice Their voices ringin’ 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 Renée Good |
| Chorus | 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 |
| Verse 3 | 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 |
| Chorus | 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 |
| Harmonica Solo | [Instrumental – Harmonica] |
| Verse 4 | 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 |
| Chorus | 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 |
| Outro | ICE out (ICE out) ICE out (ICE out) ICE out (ICE out) ICE out (ICE out) ICE out (ICE out) ICE out |
He lists names in “Streets of Minneapolis.” Trump, King. Stephen Miller. Kristi Noem. He holds these individuals accountable; they are not metaphors. Compared to previous songs, where injustice frequently donned a mask, this is a significant change. Here, the villains are not hiding behind flowery rhetoric. They are clearly visible.
Springsteen’s reactionary songwriting follows a pattern, and this one is no exception. The fatalities happen, the footage surfaces, the statements follow. Then Springsteen picks up his guitar and records what frequently sounds like a war cry mixed with a personal eulogy. It’s not scholarly. It’s blood and breath.
By teaming with longstanding producer Ron Aniello and featuring his wife Patti Scialfa on background vocals, the song conveys that classic E Street warmth—even amid mayhem. But this time, it’s flavored with anger. The period is anchored in grief rather than policy by the single statement, “They killed and roamed in the winter of ’26.”
The chorus’s transition from sadness to resistance is really inventive. He sings, “We’ll take our stand for this land / And the stranger in our midst,” sounding almost like he’s penning a contemporary declaration of loyalty. He takes back patriotism from those who exploit it in one sentence.
It is not theatrical for Springsteen to dedicate the song to immigrant populations. During a recent festival in New Jersey, he interrupted mid-set to name Renee Macklin Good from the stage. The audience went quiet. There was only weight and no applause. It’s in moments like these where you recall how serious Springsteen is about his position as a historian of misery.
After hearing the phrase, “It’s our blood and bones / And these whistles and phones,” I stopped and noticed that I was staring at my screen for longer than I had anticipated.
Those few words do a lot. They imply that instead of using weapons to retaliate, individuals are using documentation. using livestreams. With cellphones. It’s eerily similar to the pictures that have come to define every demonstration since 2020. The alarm is the whistle. The phone as protection.
The music video, which features a loop of snow-covered Minneapolis streets and flickering protest placards, seems to have been put together with a sense of urgency. Slickness is not its goal. It seeks the truth. There’s a freeze-frame of Alex Pretti smiling near a hospital emblem. Another of Renee Good giving her teenage daughter a hug. These aren’t just symbols—they were people.
The shadow of “Desolation Row” lingers here, and Springsteen’s protest songs are frequently likened to Dylan’s. But there’s something more immediate in Springsteen’s delivery, especially when his gravel voice cracks during the refrain. He doesn’t merely report the injustice—he wears it.
Through clever release timing, Springsteen tapped into the public’s mounting outrage. Numerous vigils, “ICE out now” chants, and demands for accountability have already taken place in Minneapolis. His song didn’t initiate the protest—but it added an unmistakable emotional element to it.
It’s no surprise that Springsteen once again used his platform to combat injustice. Surprisingly, this late-career song doesn’t feel like a sentimental throwback to former hits. It feels new. Sharp. It stings because it should.
In the chorus, he repeats the phrase: “We’ll remember the names of those who died.” And he ensures that we do. With tale as well as song.
The song doesn’t have a bridge. There is no musical conclusion. “ICE out” is the eerie chant. It rises and settles into your bones like a fog. It’s not comfy. It is destined to be.
For an artist frequently idealized for seaside visions and rustbelt poetry, Springsteen still manages to pull from the same source of fury he delved into forty years ago. This time, it’s filtered through age and experience—but the fire hasn’t waned.
“Streets of Minneapolis” doesn’t merely echo through speakers. It lingers in conscience.
