I need protest music to sound angrier.
Some thoughts on Springsteen's Minneapolis song.
Hello and welcome to ZERO CRED, the only music newsletter in the world. Every Sunday I send out a weekly column with music and book recommendations and such. Normally it’s a bit lighter than this one but what can I say I am pissed off today.
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The most common and annoying prediction I heard in 2016 as we were staring down the start of the first Trump presidency was: “Well, at least we’ll get good protest art out of this era!” It was optimistic but ultimately naive. A decade into this shit, I think we can officially put that notion to rest. I struggle to think of a piece of art that definitively captures this uniquely awful time. Movies, TV shows, and books have woefully felt a step behind through all of this, and that largely goes for music too.
This week, in the wake of the Minneapolis murders by ICE, a few artists stepped up to contribute songs on the matter. Billy Bragg released “City of Heroes,” the now defunct NOFX dropped “Minnesota Nazis,” and, most notably, Bruce Springsteen debuted “Streets of Minneapolis,” which went to number one on iTunes.
Look, combating fascism is an all-hands-on-deck battle, and I will never turn away soldiers in that fight, so good on them for using their voices, I guess. But I am really struck by how little the tenor of these songs matches the direness of this moment. None of them speak to the white-hot rage most of us feel every single second of every single day.
As I type this, my windows are clanging from the many police helicopters circling my Los Angeles neighborhood following today’s demonstrations where protestors were shot with less lethal ammunition. This afternoon I saw a video of a little girl getting tear gas washed out of her eyes. Normal people are signing up to patrol school zones to prevent children from being snatched up and thrown into unmarked vans. Compared to what we’re seeing and experiencing in the streets, these songs feel toothless and effete.
With Billy Bragg, you know what you’re getting. Your standard cockneyed protest folk song from England’s workman singer. Bragg has clocked in to work here and we dutifully salute him for his service. NOFX repurposed a 2022 song, “Huntington Beach Nazis,” and refitted some of the lyrics to reflect Minneapolis. Bewilderingly though, only the chorus has changed, so the verses still make references to piers and beaches which don’t exist in Minnesota. C-minus for effort.