Police miffed at Springsteen?
NYPD Reportedly Stiffs Springsteen
Wed Oct 8, 6:05 PM ET NEW YORK - Is Bruce Springsteen making the NYPD blue? The New Jersey rocker closed out his recent world tour with three shows at Shea Stadium, where he reportedly aggravated city police by performing "American Skin (41 Shots)" — a song inspired by the 1999 shooting of West African immigrant Amadou Diallo by four officers. After Springsteen played the song during the Oct. 1 opening night, a high-ranking police official ordered that there would be no post-concert police escort for the Boss after his next show, the Daily News reported. Springsteen, through publicist Marilyn Laverty, declined to comment Wednesday on the report. NYPD spokesman Michael O'Looney, in a two-paragraph statement, danced around the issue. "As a courtesy, Mr. Springsteen was given a police escort to his boat at the World's Fair Marina following the concerts on both Wednesday and Saturday night," O'Looney said. He didn't offer any comment on Friday night, but added that police had also provided an escort for E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg from LaGuardia Airport to Shea on Wednesday. Springsteen didn't perform "American Skin" at either of the last two shows. After Springsteen debuted the song during his 2000 tour, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association — representing 27,000 police officers — urged its members not to attend Springsteen's 10 Madison Square Garden concerts. "I'm clean and fairly sober" |
aah the old row has raised its ugly head. Guess the coppers dont like having songs written about them murdering people ey
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I totally agree with what the police did. If he wants to write a negative song about them, why should they help him out? They did it to be nice and for free. :D
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If everyone would just read the lyrics they would see that this is NOT an anti-cop song. It's about the difficulty of making snap decisions in todays society. If anything, it talks about the difficulty of being a cop and making the right decision.
This is copied from the Backstage board: Springsteen writes explicity about "American Skin" in the brand new edition of Songs, his longest statement by far about the controversy and the song itself. Bruce writes, "Though the song was critical, it was not 'anti-police' as some thought." As he also points out, the first verse is from the point of view of a police officer, "kneeling over his body in the vestibule, praying for his life." Rather than being an indictment of police, if the song points a finger at anyone, Springsteen suggests that it points at all of us in this country, the singer included. "The idea was here," he writes: "Here is what systemic racial injustice, fear, and paranoia do to our children, our loved ones, ourselves. Here is the price in blood." Kathleen |
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41 shots 41 shots 41 shots 41 shots 41 shots 41 shots 41 shots 41 shots.... and we'll take that ride 'cross this bloody river to the other side 41 shots... cut through the night You're kneeling over his body in the vestibule Praying for his life Is it a gun, is it a knife Is it a wallet, this is your life It ain't no secret It ain't no secret No secret my friend You can get killed just for living In your American skin 41 shots Lena gets her son ready for school She says "on these streets, Charles You've got to understand the rules If an officer stops you Promise you'll always be polite, that you'll never ever run away Promise Mama you'll keep your hands in sight" Is it a gun, is it a knife Is it a wallet, this is your life It ain't no secret It ain't no secret No secret my friend You can get killed just for living In your American skin Is it a gun, is it a knife Is it in your heart, is it in your eyes It ain't no secret 41 shots... and we'll take that ride 'Cross this bloody river To the other side 41 shots... got my boots caked in this mud We're baptized in these waters and in each other's blood Is it a gun, is it a knife Is it a wallet, this is your life It ain't no secret It ain't no secret No secret my friend You can get killed just for living In your American skin As far as I'm concerned Bruce didn't expect this kind of reaction on the song and later tried to "smooth talk" folks a little bit. And that's a pity. Because the issue he brought up in the song is very important. There are lots of cases out there when policemen take advantage of their position and act before they think. And if Bruce decided to bring this issue up, then he shouldn't retreat. |
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Is it a gun, is it a knife Is it a wallet, this is your life How would you like to make that decision in a split second. Is someone armed or is it a wallet? That may be a cops job - but it's a terrible decision to have to make - sometimes very fast. I'm only trying to point out that if you take the lyrics at face value this is not an anti-cop song. Kathleen |
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nothing gets between kathleen and bruce.... :roll: |
Okay, what about the second verse? I understand it as the mother talks about how unreasonable policemen can be. Don't irritate policemen, or you may lose your life. Because policemen got guns for sure. And they may assume the worst.
Actually, in this song Bruce wants to make some kinda point but he is not sure which point he should actually make. And he ends up being meaningful (which's a must for him) but actually inconsistent. It's like I want to be meaningful, but I don't really know what point I want to make. That's the reason I don't like this song. |
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