Last night (January 17), Bruce Springsteen made an unannounced appearance at New Jersey’s Light of Day WinterFest — a regular haunt, as far as his “surprise” performances go. While joining headliners Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers onstage at the non-profit’s event, Springsteen strongly denounced the ongoing ICE raids in Minnesota and dedicated his 1978 song “The Promised Land” to Renee Good, the mother recently killed by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Watch a fan-shot video of the moment below.
“This next song is probably one of my greatest songs,” the Boss said before playing “The Promised Land.” “And I don’t want to be out of water tonight, but I wrote this song as an ode to American possibility: both to the beautiful but flawed country that we are, and to the country that we could be. Now, right now, we are living through incredibly critical times. The United States, the ideals and the values for which it stood for the past 250 years, is being tested as it has never been in modern times. Those values and those ideals have never been as endangered as they are right now.”
Springsteen continued: “So as we gather tonight in this beautiful display of love and care and thoughtfulness and community, if you believe in democracy, in liberty; if you believe that truth still matters, and that it’s worth speaking out, and it’s worth fighting for; if you believe in the power of the law and that no one stands above it; if you stand against heavily armed, masked, federal troops invading American cities, and using Gestapo tactics against our fellow citizens; if you believe you don’t deserve to be murdered for exercising your American right to protest; then send a message to this president. And as the mayor of that city has said, ICE should get the fuck out of Minneapolis. So this song is for you, and the memory of the mother of three and American citizen Renee Good.”
Last year, Springsteen kicked off one the E Street Band’s shows in Manchester, England, by giving an impassioned speech about President Donald J. Trump and his “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration.” As far as political outspokenness goes, Springsteen has called out Trump and his policies for the better part of a decade, and voiced his opposition at the ballot box by proudly endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, his opponent, in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Springsteen also released the fabled Electric Nebraska sessions last year as part of the box set Nebraska ’82: Expanded Edition. Plus, the Boss sat down with Jeremy Allen White on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to discuss his new biopic Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.
Read the film review “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere Review: A Curveball Music Biopic.”