Latest news with #LandofHopeandDreams
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Fact Check: Bruce Springsteen said people are 'last check on power after the checks and balances of government have failed'
Claim: Bruce Springsteen said, 'The last check on power after the checks and balances of government have failed are the people, you and me. It's in the union of people around a common set of values now that's all that stands between a democracy and authoritarianism. So at the end of the day, all we've got is each other.' Rating: In May 2025, a purported quote from musician Bruce Springsteen went viral in which he criticized U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. The quote spread on Facebook, Instagram and X as Trump made Springsteen a target of his criticism, posting about the rock star on his Truth Social account. Springsteen reportedly said: "The last check on power after the checks and balances of government have failed are the people, you and me. It's in the union of people around a common set of values now that's all that stands between a democracy and authoritarianism. So at the end of the day, all we've got is each other." (Facebook user "Robert Reich") Springsteen made the above statement during a concert in Manchester, United Kingdom, on May 14. His official YouTube channel uploaded clips of the musician making the statement. As such, we rate this as a correct attribution. Springsteen spoke about the political situation in the U.S. when introducing three of his songs, "Land of Hope and Dreams," "House of a Thousand Guitars" and "My City of Ruins." The quote came from his introduction to "House of a Thousand Guitars". Springsteen made the statement at the 1:37 mark: A transcript of his remarks from that evening can be found on Springsteen's official website. Below we highlight his introductions to various songs where he criticized the U.S. government without naming Trump specifically (emphasis ours): Introduction to Land of Hope and Dreams [...]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! Introduction to House of a Thousand Guitars The last check, the last check on power after the checks and balances of government have failed are the people, you and me. It's in the union of people around a common set of values now that's all that stands between a democracy and authoritarianism. At the end of the day, all we've really got is each other. Introduction to My City of Ruins There's some very weird, strange and dangerous s**t 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. [...] As we reported previously, Trump wrote a post on Truth Social on May 16 calling Springsteen "a pushy, obnoxious JERK" and a "dried out prune of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied)," adding the rock star should keep his mouth shut until he reenters the country. On May 19, Trump criticized Springsteen again, this time for his support of Trump's Democratic opponent in the 2024 election, former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris: "HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT? WHY DID HE ACCEPT THAT MONEY IF HE IS SUCH A FAN OF HERS? ISN'T THAT A MAJOR AND ILLEGAL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION?" Snopes previously covered how Springsteen and pop star Taylor Swift both became targets of Trump's criticism. On May 16, the American Federation of Musicians labor union released a statement in support of Swift and Springsteen in the face of Trump's condemnation. Springsteen, a longtime Democrat, also criticized Trump during his first term as president, calling him a "threat to our democracy." Beaumont-Thomas, Ben. "Bruce Springsteen Says Trump Is Running 'Rogue Government' and 'Siding with Dictators.'" The Guardian, 15 May 2025. The Guardian, Accessed 22 May 2025. Ibrahim, Nur. "Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen Performed Together in 'defiance' after Trump's Truth Social Attacks?" Snopes, 22 May 2025, Accessed 22 May 2025. "Land of Hope and Dreams." YouTube. Bruce Springsteen, 14 May 2025, Accessed 22 May 2025. Sabla, Elvin. "Land of Hope and Dreams." Bruce Springsteen, 14 May 2025, Accessed 22 May 2025.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Trump posts edited video of him hitting Springsteen with a golf ball
President Trump on Wednesday morning posted an edited video showing him hitting rocker Bruce Springsteen with an animated golf ball, prolonging the back-and-forth between the two men. The eight-second video, which Trump posted on Truth Social, shows Trump, wearing a white shirt and black pants, hitting a golf ball. In the second half of the video, the animated ball is shown striking Springsteen in the back, making him fall. The two have traded insults over recent days. As he kicked off his Land of Hope and Dreams tour in England, Springsteen said the United States is 'currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.' 'There's some very weird, strange and dangerous s‑‑‑ going on out there right now. In America, they are persecuting people for using their right to free speech and voicing their dissent,' Springsteen, who supported former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election, said last week. Trump quickly fired back, saying he was never a fan of the legendary rocker or his political views. 'Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he's not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country,' Trump said Friday. The president then said Monday he will call for a 'major' investigation into whether some celebrities who supported Harris, the Democratic Party nominee, were illegally paid for their endorsements under the premise of performance fees. Springsteen performed at a Harris campaign rally last fall in Georgia. Trump has previously circulated similar golf-themed videos aimed at his critics. In September 2017, the president, then in his first White House term, shared an edited video clip of him knocking down Hillary Clinton, his 2016 general election foe, with a golf ball. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What Democrats Can Learn From Bruce Springsteen
'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,' Bruce Springsteen declared from a Manchester, U.K. stage May 14. At the kick-off show of his newly rechristened Land of Hope and Dreams Tour with the E Street Band, Springsteen framed his criticism of Donald Trump in patriotism: 'The America that I've sung to you about for 50 years is real, and regardless of its faults, is a great country with a great people. And we will survive this moment.' More from Rolling Stone Bruce Springsteen Cover Band Told Jersey Shore Gig 'Too Risky' After Real Bruce's Anti-Trump Comments Justin Baldoni Drops Taylor Swift Subpoena in Blake Lively Lawsuit Trump Posts Video of Himself Hitting Bruce Springsteen With a Golf Ball As discussed in the latest episode of Rolling Stone Music Now, Springsteen's multiple onstage speeches, punctuated with on-message songs ('Land of Hope and Dreams,' Bob Dylan's 'Chimes of Freedom') were arguably a masterclass in opposition messaging. His insistence on the existence of another, better version of the country should be instructive to many floundering Democrats — especially considering the extent to which his words captured Donald Trump's attention. To hear the whole episode, which breaks down the Trump/Springsteen war of words and much more, go here for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play above. Two days after Springsteen's remarks, Trump took to Truth Social to call his critic a 'dried out prune of a rocker' whose 'skin is all atrophied' and warned him to 'KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country,' with the ominous addendum, 'then we'll all see how it goes for him!' The threats escalated at 1:34 a.m. May 19, the night before his scheduled call with Vladimir Putin about Ukraine, 'HOW MUCH DID KAMALA HARRIS PAY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN FOR HIS POOR PERFORMANCE DURING HER CAMPAIGN FOR PRESIDENT?' he wrote. 'I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter.' Trump also demanded investigations into Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, and somehow even Bono — who, as Rolling Stone's Andy Greene points out in the new episode, 'played no role in the election whatsoever.' As discussed in the episode, Trump had it backwards: campaigns are actually required to pay fair market value for production costs to avoid undisclosed contributions. (When Rolling Stone asked the White House about the baseless threats this week, a spokesperson shot back, 'accountability for a class of people who act as if they're above the law may be uncomfortable for Rolling Stone, but it's refreshing to the American people.') Of course, it wasn't just Springsteen's eloquent framing of his opposition that irritated Trump — as his inclusion of Swift, Beyoncé, and Winfrey in his threats suggests, he is a creature of fame and showbiz who is exquisitely sensitive to the power of celebrity. He's won two elections, but still faces the irksome reality that pop culture is far from still fully MAGA-fied. The episode also ponders why musicians have been relatively quiet about the Trump Administration since January, suggesting a combination of an atmosphere of fear, a sense that 2017-style Resistance messaging failed, and the fact that it's still more socially acceptable for younger acts to criticize Democrats from the left than to mention Trump. Still, artists including Neil Young and Eddie Vedder have offered support for Springsteen's remarks, and MJ Lenderman covered 'Darkness on the Edge of Town' in an apparent show of solidarity. Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone's weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). Check out eight years' worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth interviews with Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, SZA, Questlove, Halsey, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Dua Lipa, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Kirk Hammett, Coco Jones, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone's critics and reporters. Best of Rolling Stone The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
Washington Post
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
In Springsteen's protest, a fitting Memorial Day plea
This weekend, somewhat out of fandom but mostly out of sheer curiosity, I listened to the new Bruce Springsteen release that has President Donald Trump thundering like Zeus. I found it moving and thought-provoking — not so much because of anything Springsteen said, but because the songs he chose to include in this live compendium have taken on new meaning since the years in which he wrote them. A story emerges in that recording, and it's bigger and more complicated than any clash between a songwriter and a president. As you might have read, Springsteen opened his show in Manchester, England, this month with a searing condemnation of Trump. He said, in part: '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.' Trump responded by calling Springsteen 'dumb as a rock' and a 'dried out 'prune' and saying he would investigate the rock star, like he does pretty much everyone he doesn't like. Springsteen (who is apparently harder to intimidate than law firms, university presidents and media executives) decided to release an excerpt from the concert, titled 'Land of Hope & Dreams,' making sure that his comments about Trump were the first things on it. What struck me most about the recording, though, were the three original songs Springsteen chose to include and what they tell us about the past quarter-century of American life. The oldest song on 'Land of Hope & Dreams' (aside from a beautiful closing rendition of Bob Dylan's 'Chimes of Freedom') is 'My City of Ruins,' which Springsteen recorded in 2002. That song — like the album on which it appeared, 'The Rising' — became a rallying cry for rebuilding after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Looking back now, with a bit of the dispassion that historians will someday bring to the early 21st century, we should recognize that those attacks fundamentally destabilized our country. This is painful to admit, because it means that a handful of violent Islamists managed to achieve their goal — all because we let them. But it is an inescapable truth. The first direct consequence was the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which ended up shattering America's trust in intelligence agencies, military leaders and news outlets. The second direct consequence was the banking catastrophe of 2008, which almost certainly wouldn't have happened if a government searching for a quick economic rebound hadn't encouraged a period of negligent lending. That second cataclysm destroyed what faith Americans still had in their financial system. And all this, of course, after scandals had already rocked once-beloved institutions such as baseball and Catholic Church, and as social media was taking root in the everyday lives of Americans, amplifying the most extreme voices of rage and disillusionment. There was a moment, just after the financial fiasco, when Americans opted for a hopeful kind of reinvention. The election of Barack Obama in 2008 felt as though it might signify a washing away of the past — generationally, socially, politically. Historians can debate why that didn't happen; my own sense is that Obama's administration, faced with reactionary resistance and lacking any specific reform plan, fell back on defending an activist government Americans no longer trusted. Whatever else Trump didn't understand about our moment, this part he got. 'America First' was always, at its core, an indictment of the systemic failure that became manifest in the years after 2001. Reject the elites, throw out the immigrants, retrench and start again. And so we arrived at what seems now like the inevitable end of all that distrust — a wrecking ball aimed at our institutions, a dismantling of our strained legal system, the smashing of our shaky governing consensus. That is the cathartic appeal of Trumpism, and even more so in this second iteration, after a pandemic that left a lot of Americans even angrier. Back to Springsteen, then. Aside from 'My City of Ruins,' he includes on his compendium 'Long Walk Home,' recorded in the maelstrom of 2007, and 'Land of Hope and Dreams,' written in the late '90s and recorded for his 2012 album, 'Wrecking Ball.' When Springsteen wrote and recorded these songs, they sounded like melancholy reflections on a country that was trying to right itself after a series of profound blows. It was time when those of us who were having children and raising them could — and did — still imagine that they would inherit a country more or less like the one we had known. Listening now, those songs, taken together, sound like something different: an agonized plea for courage and forbearance, a desperate hope that Americans might yet retain enough trust in their laws and institutions to turn away from an authoritarian solution. No longer is Springsteen lamenting that long walk home to the America we used to know. Now, he's begging us to turn around and take it. Which seems to me like an appropriately patriotic plea this Memorial Day: that from the ruins of Trumpism there might be a rising of democratic faith once again, not so far off.
Chicago Tribune
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
NJ cover band canceled after Springsteen's anti-Trump comments
After Bruce Springsteen kicked off his European tour last week with comments calling President Trump corrupt and incompetent, he was warned by the Commander-in-Chief that there could be consequences for the 'Born in the USA' singer back home. However, it's a New Jersey tribute band that makes money covering Springsteen songs that appears to be bearing the brunt of the Boss's actions. Riv's Toms River Hub planned to host the cover band No Surrender on May 30, but the show was reportedly 86ed after management expressed concerns that Springsteen's comments have made his music radioactive to their clientele. On Thursday, bandleader Brad Hobicorn told NJ Advance Media that he started getting messages from bar owner Tony Rivoli indicating he was getting cold feet about the upcoming gig. He said the nine-piece band was told on Sunday the show was 'too risky at the moment,' and that their $2,500 payday would be nixed. 'Because Bruce can't keep his mouth shut we're screwed,' Rivoli texted Hobicorn. The skittish bar owner also texted the band's bass player his regrets that the Springsteen-themed show wasn't happening. 'Toms River is red and won't stand for [Springsteen's] bulls–t,' Rivoli wrote. According to texts obtained by NJ Advance Media, Rivoli said he'd change his mind if No Surrender could convince him that they could draw at least 75 fans to the show. The band ultimately decided not to move forward. Hobicorn conceded 'there was definitely a safety concern' and said it's best the concert isn't happening due to their negative feelings on the situation. The band will instead perform at Headliner Oasis in Neptune Township on May 30. As the Boss began the last leg of his Land of Hope and Dreams tour, he told fans in Manchester that Trump is leading the U.S. to a dark place. '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,' he said on May 14. The president responded on Truth Social by calling Springsteen a 'prune' and warning him that insulting a U.S. leader abroad could mean trouble for the 75-year-old rocker when he gets home. 'We'll all see how it goes for him!' Trump tweeted.
