Bruce Springsteen - I salute you!

Lizziedrip....yes indeed I'm well aware of his political views and he his entitled to them. I don't have to agree or disagree with them to enjoy his music...in fact his best songs are not political at all and I hope he performs more of those.

My son is travelling today to see him this weekend he holds him up high god bless him for speaking out!

Marvellous !

I have no where said he shouldn't voice them, I find them boring in terms of the free speech debate, and no help whatsoever in terms of maintaining free speech, it is not shutting down to criticise him. A thread saying only how wonderful he is would be shutting down debate.

Chocolatelovinggran

Mt61 I think you may be a little biased against the present regime in Britain. You may feel that there are similarities with Mr Trump's USA but I see no signs, here, of
Removing reproductive choices for women
Telling universities to teach only the history approved by the leaders
Arresting judges for applying the law
Debating the removal of Habeas Corpus
I could go on..

👏👏👏👏👏

Mt61 I think you may be a little biased against the present regime in Britain. You may feel that there are similarities with Mr Trump's USA but I see no signs, here, of
Removing reproductive choices for women
Telling universities to teach only the history approved by the leaders
Arresting judges for applying the law
Debating the removal of Habeas Corpus
I could go on..

He’s probably got as much right as anyone else to air his views, whether people agree or not.

Galaxy

It's not whstaboutery when it's about speech, it is the same thing over and over again, only the speech I like must be defended. Silence for the rest.
I am happy for him to use his freedom of speech, but in return he will get lots of people saying he is wonderful, and some others questioning or rolling their eyes. Both are fine.
Some people think Lineker for example is a force for good, I don't, or rather I think he hasn't a clue what he is doing most of the time. Both are interpretations of his character I suppose.

It is whataboutery. You can’t defend freedom of speech and then condemn somebody for using it because you think their motivation is ‘only the speech I like must be defended’, when you have no justification that is the case other than your own belief. We know what he is, in that he’s been saying what he thinks for many years - about all aspects of American life. You know no more about his motivation than anybody else, but as I said before, you automatically jump to condemn. It feels as though you are guilty of shutting down his beliefs, saying he shouldn’t voice them - really?

Wyllow3

Here's a report free of paywall, salute indeed as he addresses the huge crowd

"“In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.

Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring!”

He then delivered a longer speech ahead of the song My City of Ruins, saying:

There’s some very weird, strange and dangerous shit going on out there right now. In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent. This is happening now.

In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world’s poorest children to sickness and death. This is happening now.
In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers.
They’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that led to a more just and plural society.
They are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom. They are defunding American universities that won’t bow down to their ideological demands.
They are removing residents off American streets and, without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centres and prisons.
This is all happening now.

A majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government. They have no concern or idea of what it means to be deeply American.

The America l’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real and regardless of its faults is a great country with a great people. So we’ll survive this moment.

Now, I have hope, because I believe in the truth of what the great American writer James Baldwin said. He said, ‘In this world, there isn’t as much humanity as one would like, but there’s enough.’ Let’s pray.

A little like Britain then

The difference (to me, anyway) is that nobody is paying for Lineker's opinions - they are forced upon us if we watch the BBC. Springsteen and/or other songwriters' views are optional - if people don't like them their fame disappears. There are those who are famous for being controversial (Kanye West?) but they tend to crash and burn not long after that happens.

It's not whstaboutery when it's about speech, it is the same thing over and over again, only the speech I like must be defended. Silence for the rest.
I am happy for him to use his freedom of speech, but in return he will get lots of people saying he is wonderful, and some others questioning or rolling their eyes. Both are fine.
Some people think Lineker for example is a force for good, I don't, or rather I think he hasn't a clue what he is doing most of the time. Both are interpretations of his character I suppose.

Exactly, Doodledog. spot on.

His songs are also about love and loss, happiness and sadness - (Hungry Heart and many others) its why he is so popular, they've grown out of his whole experience as a human being in all his , and his own experiences include a cultural interest in that part of our lives which is affected by politics.

Its not a broadcast on behalf of X party its a personal testimony from 75 years of his life, he's seen so much, as we all have at our ages, and speaks his truth.

Absolutely, Lizziedrip.

As well as speaking out against Trump numerous times, Springsteen refused to allow Regan to use Born in the USA as an election song. Politicians try to use popular figures to boost their ratings, too. It's not a one-way street.

The point, I think, is that rock stars are not politicians. They are artists who are inspired by all sorts of things to write and perform music. They are not remotely obliged to write about anything other than what inspires them, and that doesn't make them hypocrites.

Similarly, on here, individual posters post about what annoys/pleases/infuriates them, but not about every other thing that happens every day. Sometimes that leads others to shout 'What about X?' 'Why didn't you complain about Y, you hypocrite?' I roll my eyes at that whataboutery, too.

”I don't think you can complain about free speech if the only time you raise your voice is when it is Trump, it just makes you look insincere. I don't care who he supports politically”

But the point is, this is not the only time Springsteen has raised his voice.

He hasn’t suddenly jumped on some Trump hating bandwagon. He has been raising his voice in support of workers rights and the underprivileged in America for 40 years!

Those who go to his concerts know (and generally admire) this.

Agreed, Casdon.

Galaxy, by 'balance' I am referring to your idea that if a singer writes about cause X it is wrong because s/he hasn't written about Y or Z (Biden's son or 'gender' politics in your example). Whether or not you judge Springsteen's concern for working class America is truthful or not is neither here nor there, really. You can't possibly know, and it is up to the fans whether they want to buy the music and go to the gigs.

Dorisdodar

Well I hope he's got it off his chest because I'm going to see him tomorrow and paid good money for the tickets....I don't wish to hear him ranting about President Trump....it's the music I want to hear.

If you’re going to see Springsteen, you’re surely aware of his political views and that he’s frequently outspoken about them - so it shouldn’t come as a shock to you🤷‍♀️

I’m sure there’ll be plenty of great music as well.

It's so sad that people are pitted against each other in this binary way.
What had happened to the middle ground?
I supppose they are still there, quietly going about their lives, trying to be decent people.

The tour is called , "The Land of Hopes and Dreams"...born in the USA os partly about post Vietnam trauma, "the Rising" about 9/11 and so on. So his songs are about a whole culture, and what he says is congruent with that. Hopes and Dreams for a better America.

You keep repeating that on every thread. However it doesn’t change the fact that you jumped to the bait, Springsteen was doing what he has done all his working life, and using the precious freedom of speech to say what he thought. You don’t know his motives but you automatically condemn, which is wrong.

The republicans under Trump are in power.
The other interesting thing I suppose is the reference to the poor, the Trump vote is quite difficult to analyse I think, but quite a proportion of it was the 'working class' vote, there is something to unpick about that. Something along the lines of wealthy individuals not understanding what is important to those who have less.

Galaxy

No it's not about balance it is about whether I judge them to be 'truthful' I suppose. Gary Lineker is a good example, he will lecture against racism and then be as antisemitic as it is possible to be.
I don't think you can complain about free speech if the only time you raise your voice is when it is Trump, it just makes you look insincere. I don't care who he supports politically.

But Trump isn’t what Springsteen either said, or writes, sings and talks about exclusively. For forty years he has championed workers rights and overcoming oppression. think you’ve jumped to the bait here, I really do. He isn’t ‘people’.

If you read what he actually said, he's not talking just about Trump at all, he doesn't even mention his name, he's talking about a direction those in power in the US are taking both ideas and actions.

No it's not about balance it is about whether I judge them to be 'truthful' I suppose. Gary Lineker is a good example, he will lecture against racism and then be as antisemitic as it is possible to be.
I don't think you can complain about free speech if the only time you raise your voice is when it is Trump, it just makes you look insincere. I don't care who he supports politically.

Sorry “psychic”

Go Springsteen.

What he said is about far more than free speech as such. It's about what he is doing with the poorest of the country, it's about whether people can even enjoy due Process of Law anymore, as you can read on page 1.

Yes, many of his songs have been political already, celebratory of an America, a land he loves, he doesn't want to see destroyed.

It's a culture battle, the censorship of histories and anything that doesnt follow Trumps' narrative.

Artists get involved in the culture they live in, always have, whether painters of singers or poets, and he has his place in it

The MAGA crew are busy attacking him of course:

but what he said as part of his performance isn't heavy handed or overdone, the 10 minutes or so it must have taken as part of a long evening were well spent imo.