Bruce Springsteen Releases Protest Song “Streets Of Minneapolis” In Response To ICE Shootings [Video]

In response to the fatal shootings of two American citizens by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis this month, Bruce Springsteen has released a new protest song titled “Streets of Minneapolis”.

In a social media post accompanying the release, Springsteen said he created the track “in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis.”

The song memorializes Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37-year-old Minneapolis residents killed during separate encounters with ICE agents. Good, a poet and mother, died January 7th when an officer shot into her vehicle. Pretti, a VA intensive care nurse, was killed January 24th while filming federal agents and trying to help a woman during a protest. In both cases, government officials attempted to portray the shooting victims as violent agitators despite video evidence and witness accounts that contradict those assertions.

The deaths triggered protests across Minneapolis and other major cities, with Minneapolis schools temporarily closing and Governor Tim Walz putting the National Guard on standby. Mayor Jacob Frey has called for ICE to “get the f—k out of Minneapolis.”

The track’s title echoes Springsteen’s “Streets of Philadelphia”, a song he wrote for the 1993 film Philadelphia that won the Academy Award for Best Original Song and four Grammy Awards. Musically, it builds from acoustic guitar and vocals to a fuller arrangement, ending with audio of protesters chanting “ICE Out!”

In the lyrics, Springsteen references Nicollet Avenue protest sites, describes a city in winter facing what he calls oppressive federal force, and refers to ICE agents as “King Trump’s private army.” The song names both victims and calls out United States Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem for peddling “dirty lies.” In the chorus, Springsteen declares, “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.”

Earlier this month at New Jersey’s Light of Day festival, Springsteen dedicated “The Promised Land” to Good and supported the mayor’s demand.

Listen to Bruce Springsteen’s new protest song “Streets of Minneapolis” below and scroll down to read the full lyrics.

Bruce Springsteen – “Streets Of Minneapolis”

Bruce Springsteen – “Streets Of Minneapolis”

[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 Renee 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]

[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