Video Of The Week: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band

In the wake of the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin debacle, one can't help but think back to 1999 Amadou Diallo murder. If you don't remember, here's a quick Wikipedia quote:

Amadou Bailo Diallo (September 2, 1975 – February 4, 1999) was a 23-year-old immigrant from Guinea who was shot and killed in New York City on February 4, 1999 by four New York City Police Department plain-clothed officers: Sean Carroll, Richard Murphy, Edward McMellon and Kenneth Boss, who fired a combined total of 41 shots, 19 of which struck Diallo, outside his apartment at 1157 Wheeler Avenue in the Soundview section of The Bronx. The four were part of the now-defunct Street Crimes Unit. All four officers were acquitted at trial in Albany, New York.^[1]

Diallo was unarmed at the time of the shooting, and a firestorm of controversy erupted subsequent to the event as the circumstances of the shooting prompted outrage both within and outside New York City. Issues such as police brutality, racial profiling, and contagious shooting were central to the ensuing controversy.

Outrage ensued, of course, and many artists spoke out, first against the shooting, then the verdict. Among the most vocal singers who recorded songs in response were Wyclef Jean (Diallo, featuring Youssou N'Dour), Le Tigre (Bang! Bang!) and Bruce Springsteen, who gets the honors this week.

The video was filmed during the E Street Band's 10-night run at Madison Square Garden by filmmaker Jonathan Demme (The Silence Of The Lambs), which also spawned a DVD.

Springsteen's intensity is best appreciated through live performances - you want to see his face struggling, his neck veins nearly exploding, his fist clenched when hearing the songs. You also get a better feel for his backing band, capable both of balls-out rock and incredible subtlety.

Chris Christie's Boss

Now that the photo ops have given way to relief efforts by out-of-energy first responders that are no longer photogenic enough to be on the evening news, politicians have gone back to giving speeches on podiums with as many people behind them as there were in front.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie talked about the issues - housing for the homeless, talking to Bruce Springsteen:

New York News | NYC Breaking News

I know firsthand that in times of crisis, sometimes a small break with things or people you love - or both - rejuvenates you more and better than a full night's sleep, but I just think these things are taken care of in private, not for the press; I also think the mood shifted a little too quickly, that now that Christie knows he's a hero (and a shoe-in for the 2014 nomination unless he fucks up in a major way), he has less to do, and is content with ''leading''. I hope I'm wrong, but I rarely am.

Video Of The Week: Bruce Springsteen

Just in time for Mitt Romney's purchasing of the Republican nomination, Bruce Sprinsgteen has released an official video for what I've already deemed the Song Of The Year...

And should you not be convinced these two events are inter-related, remember Romney's ''joke'' about his father closing a factory in Michigan, and compare it to these lyrics from Death To My Hometown:

They destroyed our families’ factories and they took our homes
They left our bodies on the plains
The vultures picked our bones
So listen up, my Sonny boy
Be ready for when they come
For they’ll be returning sure as the rising sun

And then think about Romney's quote about ''letting Detroit go bankrupt''...

I'm glad folks like Springsteen still have fire in their repertoire. And if he can mix it with a great fucking song, all the better...

While I'm Into Politics... Here's Music

I must admit this is perhaps the best musical performance I've seen in years.



I'm not a fan of Bruce Springsteen's. I usually find his ''band'' recordings to be muddy, murky, hard-to-differentiate-one-note-from-another, but in this Irish-style angst-ridden ditty that sounds like something Joe Strummer could have written for The Pogues - mixing the rage and immediacy of The Clash's  London Calling with the styling and grit of the Celtic band's Rum, Sodomy & The Lash - The Boss turns it up to 11 with the help of his E-Street Band and Tom Morello for Jimmy Fallon's show.

He's passionate, involved, brutally honest, and wrote a fucking amazing song. We're barely in March, and this is probably the song of the year for me, and this is the performance of the past 5 years.