Credit: Danny Clinch
Credit: Danny ClinchBruce Springsteen used his latest semi-weekly DJ stint on his own satellite radio channel Wednesday to offer some heartfelt commentary about the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police, and the subsequent rioting and protests the incident ignited.
After playing his song “American Skin (41 Shots),” which he wrote about the 1999 shooting death of an unarmed African immigrant named Amadou Diallo by New York City police officers, Springsteen noted, “Eight minutes. That song is almost eight minutes long. And that’s how long it took George Floyd to die with a Minneapolis officer’s knee buried into his neck.”
He continued, “That’s a long time. That’s how long he begged for help and said he couldn’t breathe. The arresting officer’s response was nothing but silence and wait. Then he had no pulse and still it went on.”
The Boss then dedicated the song “to Seattle, to New York, to Miami, to Atlanta, to Chicago, to Dallas, to Philadelphia, to Washington, to Los Angeles, to Asbury Park, to Minneapolis and to the memory of George Floyd. May he rest in peace.”
He went on to address the current financial, health, political and racial crises the country is experiencing.
“As we speak, 40 million people are unemployed. One-hundred-thousand plus citizens have died from COVID-19, with only the most tepid and unfeeling response from our White House,” he said, somberly. “As of today, our black citizens continue to be killed unnecessarily by our police on the streets of America. And as of this broadcast, the country was on fire and in chaos.”
Springsteen followed that commentary by playing another one of his songs, “Murder Incorporated.”
You can check at an audio segment from Bruce’s latest DJ appearance on his official Facebook page.
By Matt Friedlander
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