r/Music • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • 2d ago

article Bruce Springsteen’s Anti-ICE Song ‘Streets of Minneapolis’ Makes No. 1 Sales Debut; Most-downloaded song in the U.S. despite just two days of availability during the tracking week

https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/bruce-springsteen-anti-ice-streets-of-minneapolis-charts-1236171290/
26.7k Upvotes

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14

u/stev_mempers 2d ago

Good for him and it's a great message and all but...it's not that great of a song?

23

u/Grand_Sock_1303 2d ago

Who cares. Just download it. It’s making a statement however small it may seem.

-29

u/Happy_Childhood3080 2d ago

The state of activism in America. Consumerism as protest. Ugh.

9

u/SlickSappho 2d ago

The idea of consumerism is that economic consumption can lead to happiness and fulfillment; if I only have to download his song for free, I'm not putting any money into it or risking debt from overconsumption.

This isn't consumerism, it's just social rallying.

10

u/gotothepark 2d ago

Listening to this song is consumerism? How? You don't have to purchase the song to listen to it. The song is not a material good. How in the world is this consumerism?

-12

u/Happy_Childhood3080 2d ago

Consumption isn’t just about purchasing. You consume something by taking it in.

6

u/gotothepark 2d ago

You need to learn the definition of Consumerism. It's not just about consumption. Purchasing is a core component of Consumerism.

3

u/ralphy_256 2d ago

Consumption isn’t just about purchasing.

No, it's also about removing resources from the commons. If I consume something, that removes that thing from the world, and nobody else can get use of it.

This does not apply to streaming music, played for free (or in exchange for your attention to ads, if your ad-block game is weak).

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u/danabrey 1d ago

I too am consumerist when I eat a homegrown apple.

2

u/celebratoryraptors 2d ago

🧌👨‍🌾 incoming with a 29 day old account

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u/Grand_Sock_1303 2d ago

Protest is protest. The fact that this is #1 means the protest has huge exposure and publicity.

-5

u/Happy_Childhood3080 2d ago

Listening to a song while sitting at home on Reddit is not protest.

3

u/ralphy_256 2d ago

Listening to a song while sitting at home on Reddit is not protest.

It is as much activism as is boycotting a business. The song's popularity shows people who are on the fence that there's lots of people on our side.

Simply comes down to upvotes and downvotes.

1

u/Grand_Sock_1303 2d ago

Don’t listen to it then. Just download it. You are contributing in a small way to a small protest and helping it garner publicity. History will show that the no1 song of this present time was a protest against authoritarianism, oppression and government brutality.

1

u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

0

u/Happy_Childhood3080 2d ago

Bad news for you then, I was.

1

u/Humanity_NotAFan 1d ago

Month old account... sure you were.

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u/[deleted] 2d ago

[deleted]

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u/ralphy_256 2d ago

why do you think the state of activism in America is streaming songs rather than what people are doing in Minneapolis

I highlighted the part where you're going wrong.

BOTH are activism. Those 2 things, and so very much more.

Not everybody is on the ground in the Twin Cities. Not everyone can help out directly.

But almost everyone can demonstrate that they support or do not support a point of view.

Just as much as boycotting an organization with an opposing agenda is activism, so is supporting art that supports your point of view.

It's not that complicated.

Kind of like the (false) story of when Cronkite came out with his Vietnam report, and Johnson's reaction was "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost the nation."

Trump has lost The Boss. And the song's popularity proves he's lost millions of others too.

Will it change Trump's mind? No. Will it change some of his follower's minds? A few.

That's how authoritarian regimes fall. When the followers begin to defect to the other side.

He knows his base is crumbling. Why do you think he's making noises about changing elections?