Bruce Springsteen “We’ll remember the names of those who died On the streets of Minneapolis”
Bruce Springsteen’s New Folk Song Classic Streets of Minneapolis.
Some Leftists in the 1960s totally disparaged the pop song brigade as a propagandist distraction from the struggle. And maybe large parts of the category were consciously designed to to ‘tune in, drop out’. But when does a folk song get composed, and ultimately written or recorded?
Much of the popular folk songs – even in the 1960s – originally came from the people. As we have previously mourned the passing of Norma Waterson, we cited A.L.Lloyd. In a prior era we usually never knew who wrote them:
“Songs that are so close to the heart of the common people may have a functional quality that goes far beyond mere diversion. Many of them were made up not so much to decorate life as to make it bearable… these songs arose spontaneously in working-class communities and in the main were transmitted orally.”
Hari Kumar; citing A.L.Lloyd (Bert): Come All Ye Bold Miners – Ballads and Songs of the Coalfields” (London 1978; p.13-18), in”Norma Waterson Obituary – Her Songs Live On. Reflections on the importance of English folk music and the life of Norma Waterson (1939-2022)”; at Berlin Left
We do not know who wrote such extraordinary ballads of working class resistance – such as the ones collected by Lloyd including “Blackleg Miner” (hear at “Songs from the pit” 19th February 2021 ).
But we do know who wrote “Streets of Minneapolis“. Bruce Springsteen wrote this song of memory and resistance – at a fever pitch on Saturday evening.
He wrote it after the murder of Mr.Alex Pretti – itself following the murder of Ms Renée Good. (See Minnesota strides forward against ICE’; MLRG.online January 25, 2026; )
The next day Springsteen recorded “Streets of Minneapolis” on the Sunday 25 January 2026. To date it has had over 2 million views already. Add to those views yourself at : Streets of Minneapolis. It is already a folk song….
The lyrics for the first two verses of his song goes as follows:
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 ringing 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”
Listen to this new anthem of our class today – but also organise.
We believe it is the agenda of Trump to provoke individual acts of violence. As we wrote when the ICE thugs were launched on Los Angeles workers in June 2025 – they are trying to provoke individual acts of resistance. – “Justifying” a military crackdown – Trump, Stephen Miller use ICE to provoke and goad”; June 9, 2025 At MLRG.Online June 2025 “.
The current stance of the Trump Government is – tactically to de-escalate in the very short term – as a first step removing Greg Bovino of the Border Patrol whose provocative and inflammatory actions were crucial to ICE’s aggression – replacing him with Tom Homan:
“Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol chief whose tactics in immigration operations in American cities have garnered lawsuits and protests, was pulled out of Minneapolis. But White House officials maintained he was not at risk of losing his position. The White House has directed Tom Homan, the president’s border czar, to replace Mr. Bovino in Minnesota and meet with local authorities to “de-escalate” the situation in Minneapolis, in Mr. Trump’s words.”
Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamed Aleaziz; “Shooting Aftermath Leaves Homeland Security Department in Turmoil”; New York Times (NYT); Jan 28 2026
But the NYT and the Democratic Party are making it appear that things are going to ‘settle down’ as Trump somehow ‘sees reason’:
“the president announced on social media that he was sending Mr. Homan to Minneapolis, a tacit acknowledgment that he was losing control of a situation that posed one of the most serious political threats of his second administration.”
Tyler Pager, Katie Rogers, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Hamed Aleaziz; “Nervous Allies and Fox News: How Trump Realized He Had a Big Problem in Minneapolis”; NYT 28 January 2026
But this is posturing, for who is Homan, the so-called Border Czar?
“Mr. Homan, a longtime ICE official, is seen among Mr. Trump’s allies as someone who could bring a measure of calm to the chaos in Minnesota, particularly because he has called for targeted arrests instead of sweeping raids. But he is fully on board with Mr. Trump’s mass deportation campaign; in 2018, he, along with two senior officials, recommended a policy that eventually led to families being separated at the southern border.”
Tyler Pager et al; “”Nervous Allies and Fox News..”; Ibid 28 January, 2026
Neither Noem (homeland security secretary ) nor Stephen Miller (“the mastermind of President Trump’s hard-line immigration policy,” NYT 28 January 2026) have been removed from any authority. Meanwhile, the NYT makes reassuring sounds – as Democratic Party leader Mr Chuck Schumer makes deals with Mr Trump:
“President Trump and Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, moved on Wednesday night toward a possible agreement to negotiate new restrictions on federal immigration agents, potentially averting a government shutdown early Saturday when funding for multiple federal agencies is slated to lapse. Under the emerging plan, according to two officials knowledgeable about it, the Senate would split off legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security from a six-bill package of spending measures needed to keep the military, health programs and other federal agencies funded for the remainder of the fiscal year. The Senate would pass those bills before a Friday midnight deadline, and Congress also would consider a short-term extension for homeland security operations, which would prevent an interruption of services by the Transportation Security Agency, Coast Guard and Federal Emergency Management Agency.
That stopgap bill would provide time for talks between lawmakers and the White House to draft a new homeland security spending bill that would include new restrictions that Democrats have demanded on the tactics of immigration enforcement officers and more accountability for those accused of using excessive force.”
Carl Hulse; “Trump and Schumer Move Toward Possible Deal to Avert a Shutdown”: NYT 28 January, 2026
The working class cannot believe Mr Schumer and Mr Trump to agree anything of any lasting value for the working class.
Meanwhile a threat to do another Venezuela on Iran is unfolding – which will not help the working class oppressed by a theocracy there.
Conclusion
We need mass united actions and a united Marxist-Leninist party. As we said on January 25th 2026:
“As a minimum, the slogans for this movement should include the following, recognising that the last in particular demand – will be difficult to achieve:
◊ Withdrawing of ICE agents from Minneapolis and other cities;
◊ Charges and public trials against the murderers of both Ms Good and Mr. Pretti;
◊ Release of those in detention from the ICE raids across the USA
◊ Public enquiry with a view to laying criminal charges against the Trump leaders, setting and enabling the ICE attacks on the agenda.
Ultimately – given the nature of the capitalist crisis besetting the USA – only a Marxist-Leninist united party can prevent this continuing and deteriorating. Only a socialist solution can stop this societal attack on workers. But – the General Strike held in Minnesota is a valuable sign of how the class can move.
Once again, as Lenin said – “strikes are a school of war” – and Minneapolis was one. In these times we must learn fast.
It is necessary to add now that while we are at war, our enemy is much more powerfully armed.
At this stage our class response must be non-violent, mass demonstrations.
Only mass action with all that this implies can prevent the move towards the cancellation of the mid-term elections; the declaration of the Insurrection Act; and the formal imposition of fascism.
