I speak from experience when I say there’s nothing like a song to fill the void, feel the feels, and get whatever’s on your chest off your chest and out into the world gone wrong, as I’ve gleaned strength from so-called “protest” songs most of my life, and written a ton this decade and month.
Luckily, I’m not alone. With federal immigration agents crawling through our neighborhoods, murdering our neighbors and kidnapping our children here in the Twin Cities and all over Minnesota and beyond, songwriters have tapped into their talent, anger, artistry, and empathy, heard Minnesota’s cries for help, and responded. Suddenly, protest songs and songs of support for Minnesota are flying around like news updates and truth blasts you can dance and sing along to.
Here’s 32 that caught my heart and ears, with gratitude to all:
Marsh Family, “Minnesota”
Tears here. With everybody actually coming to Minnesota to lend songs and support, this stunning acoustic reworking of the hippie anthem “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)” by the Marsh family band from South East England hits hard and heartfelt, like a poignant letter from a family friend you didn’t know you had or needed.
Sarah Streitz, “Get Out of Minnesota Kristi Noem”
Minneapolis native Streitz’s “God Bless The Immigrants” remains one of the great anti-I.C.E. songs ever to hatch from this state, and her seething anger can be heard throughout this demo, with a chorus/chant that ultimately gave us our wish: “Get out of Minnesota Kristi Noem/With your Botex and your lip-filler please go home/Your ignorance is your bliss/Nut in Minnesota people are pissed/So get out of Minnesota Kristi Noem.”
NOFX, “Minnesota Nazis”
A punk rock blast, this rewrite of “Huntington Beach Nazis” nails it with three chords and the truth and an unmistakable DIY edge. Money lyric from Fat Mike: “If those Minnesota Nazis are so sure that they’re part of the master race/Why do they cover their white faces when they’re shooting/Friendly white unarmed lesbians in the face?”
Bruce Springsteen, “Streets of Minneapolis”
As this tremendous anthem and video ricocheted around the internet this week, poster after poster referred to The Boss as “my hero,” and ain’t that the truth. A balm to the exhausted masses, this one sounds like it came in one cathartic creative burst, no notes. You can feel Springsteen’s rage here, like he bottled it up and recorded it before it got away, spitting the words and all his pinched outrage, and now it’s down for posterity. As important a song as he’s ever written, as evidenced by how many singers are already covering it. Thanks man, we needed that. Sing it:
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
Here in our home they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
Billy Bragg, “City of Heroes”
Speaking of heroes, our friend Billy Bragg is no stranger to the streets he writes about on this, one of his all-time greatest anthems, roaring away on the historical crash-course that’s led to fascists occupying one of his favorite American cities with a voice that has never sounded stronger, wiser, fiercer. A song so good it will be sung at marches and union halls here long after the goon squad has left. Thanks man, we needed that. Sing it:
What excuses would you tell yourself
If this ever happened to you?
Well I live in a city of heroes
I know what I would do
When they came for the immigrants
I got in their face
When they came for the refugees
I got in their face
When they came for the five-year-olds
I got in their face
When they came to my neighborhood
I just got in their face
They use tear gas and pepper spray
Against our whistles and our phones
But in this city of heroes
We will protect our home
Bathtub Cig, untitled.
This Minneapolis-based songwriter said it all for all of us when she recorded this gorgeous new song from the road on January 11: “They shot the poet in the head/we are not afraid, we are not afraid, we are not afraid of you.”
Natalie Lovejoy, “This Ground is Home”
Both “Streets of Minneapolis” and “City of Heroes” were written in a rush, and the urgency is everything. Songs that come straight from the heart and in the moment have an indelible timelessness to them, and this one, by St. Paul’s own superhero singer Lovejoy, comes with an immediacy that goes both soft and hard. Uplifting in a down time.
The Neighborhood Kids, “Breaking News”
Straight outta San Diego, this rap trio are no strangers to confronting I.C.E. (see: “Kids In Cages”), and this weeks-old banger rips outraged bars for days, with a hook that drills down like a leaf blower blasting back tear gas. Everybody now: “Everybody stand up/Put your put your hands up/I’m not the police I won’t put you in handcuffs.”
Lynz Lab, “A Scary Time but make it about ICE”
Fun and frothy ukelele-fueled outrage that really delivers at the end.
Laamar, “Who Is She to You?”
A heartbroken young dad sits at his piano and tries to make sense of the murder of a brave young mother, perfectly balancing his anger for the ICE agents and his love for humanity, and we all get to cry along and learn something about ourselves by the end. Epic, and tenderly so.
Speak Now Sasha, “Tell Me What Terrorism Looks Like”
To the bone and heartfelt, with a voice that cuts through straight to the broken heart.
Jeremy Messersmith, “Fuck This”
Brilliant, funny, smart, singable. A Nazi-fighting show tune in the grand tradition of “Cabaret!”
Jax The Band, “Cold as ICE”
An ancient-sounding lament from a modern-day truth-teller that would be right at home around any candlelight vigil.
Steve Goertz, “Good Trouble”
This heartwarming blues-picked tune from little-heard but big-hearted guitarist and songwriter Goertz gently reminds us that protests are made of big and small actions, and pays homage to John Lewis and Renee Good in the chorus. Another tear-jerker, another good and meaningful singalong.
Durry, “Told You So”
A rocking revenge song aimed straight at a MAGA relative, then ICE. Ten years in the making, sounds perfect and perfectly rageful in the here and now.
The Belfast Cowboys, “Southside”
A live show staple only at this point, this horn-driven celebration of our city swaggers with the best of ‘em, and the earworm (“Southside!”) as sung by my brother into my headphones the last couple months has provided me with companionship and courage as I walk the neighborhood, lake, and vigil sites of South Minneapolis. You can almost hear his chest bursting with pride and love for his hometown as the band makes that joyful noise behind him, and hell if this rock & roll blast of civic pride doesn’t rock me even harder these days, given how Minnesotans have responded to the state-sanctioned invasion and murders we’re all living through (helicopters overhead and drowning out the music as I write this).
Milck, “A Freedom Hymn”
Stunningly beautiful soundscapes and heaven-sent voices from the artist Milck (“the gentle rebel”) whose music is made to heal and go deep (her street performance of her song “Quiet” went viral from the 2017 Women’s March) and I am more than here for it.
Carsie Blanton, “Come Out Ye Cowards ICE”
One of the best new songwriters around lights it up with this reworking of the Irish rebel song “Come Out Ye Black and Tans,” describing it as “a fight song for the Minnesota Revolutionary Army.” ‘Tis true, more than anything what the last month has felt like is that The Troubles have come to Minnesota:
Come out ye cowards ICE
Come and finally pay the price
Tell your wife how you’ve been
Simping for the fascists
Tell her how the MRA (Minnesota Revolutionary Army)
Made you run the hell away
From the white and snowy
Streets of Minneapolis
Dan Rodriguez, “Pretti/Good”
Achingly beautiful song from local songsmith Rodriquez, whose heart positively bursts from his chest to ours on this hushed stunner. Quiet tunes like this require a rare stillness and confidence in both voice and lyrics, and when he sings about “the last words of a poet that we all heard so clear” it’s nothing short of a prayer.
Swallows, “Insurrection Song”
Dedicated to “all Minnesotans who are engaged in the struggle to uphold the United States constitution and protect the civil and human rights of all citizens and residents of our state,” this blistering psych-out finds singer Jeff Crandall wailing through the abyss to tell anyone within earshot, “First there was one/Now there are two/Do you not think/They’ll come for you?”
Singing Resistance, “Hold On”
This hundreds-strong singing group formed the week Renee Good was murdered, and ever since they’ve been lifting their voices and lifting hearts wherever they’ve landed. Take it from me, the sound of this chorus coming out of nowhere on a cold and dangerous night is a healing, hopeful, soulful blessing.
Penka Jane, “When Gregory Bovino to Minnesota Went”
Crazy catchy rewrite of Nic Jone’s “Warlike Lads of Russia,” buoyed by singer Jane’s wry delivery and mocking I-hate-a-man-in-a-uniform tone while she chirps stuff like, “Oh the folks from Minnesota/They fight all in one mind/Making Bovino run/And leave his troops behind.”
John Swardson, “The Storm ’26”
Heartfelt and haunting cry from the frontlines by Minneapolis-based songwriter Swardson who poetically captures the state of the state and the courage of its citizens: “Storm ragin’, but we won’t stay inside.”
Jodi Jones, “There’s Blood Upon The Snow in Minneapolis”
Tell the world: “There’s blood upon the snow in Minneapolis/They’re executing nurses in the street/Emptying their clips into civilians/I don’t know how anyone can sleep/Alex Pretti died for Minneapolis/For neighbors disappeared into the dark/May his memory become a blessing/May his bravery become the spark.”
Noah Levy and the Stone Arch Bridge Drum Corps., “No Words” (live on the Stone Arch Bridge 1/23/26)
In which 30 frosty drummers hovered over the Mississippi River on the coldest Minnesota day in a decade and blasted out a cadence that’s echoing still, kicking off the first general strike in the country in over 100 years, and launching a march through downtown Minneapolis for the ages. A grateful nation salutes you.
Paul Metsa and Alan Sparhawk, “No Kings, No Crown”
Written and recorded at the end of last year, this classic from two North Shore vets sneaks up on you with the ridiculously catchy “fool after fool after fool after fool after fool” break that cracks me up and makes me shake my head and sing along every damn time. So true, so good.
Maria Isa, “Que Se Vaya El Hielo”
The state rep that raps spits out a bomba drum-fired Spanish-English anthem for the times, and you can rage-dance to it.
The Ike Reilly Assassination, “Boltcutter”
One of our friend Ike’s most piercing story-songs, from the POV of a first-generation immigrant, of which he wrote the other day on Facebook: “I’ve performed on the First Avenue stage every year for the past 25 years, sometimes more than once a year. I’m honored to be returning to that sanctuary Friday morning not only to honor Renee and Alex but to show my solidarity with the incredible people of the Twin Cities and their courageous resistance to this fucking occupation. Ten years ago I wrote a song called ‘Boltcutter’ about Trump’s first racist travel ban where regular folks step up to free locked-up and persecuted human beings and the fact that the people of Minneapolis walk the fucking walk doesn’t surprise me.”
Mary Gauthier and Eliza Gilkyson, “Soldier of Fortune”
Dedicated “to the people courageously fighting state terror everywhere. In memory of Alex Jeffrey Pretti and Renee Good, shot dead on the streets of Minneapolis by ICE,” two of America’s finest singers and songwriters team up for this mocking history lesson that concludes:
You’re nothing but a gun for hire, hiding behind a mask
You didn’t care if she was somebody’s mother
When you shot her in the face through the window glass
A VA nurse on a city street, full of the courage you lack
An angel of mercy, helping a stranger and you fired ten bullets into his back
Soldier of Fortune, a devil pacing the cage
You’re nothing new, we know about you
Dave Hill, untitled
Brad Zellar may have said it best when he wrote that I.C.E. agents were recruited from strip club buffet lines, Jesse Welles’s “Join Ice” remains a hilarious and fresh takedown of the little rats, and this half-song from comedian/rocker Hill does the same trick. More, please!
Dezi Music, “Did You See What Happened In Minneapolis?”
From Los Angeles, with love.
David Hanners, “History Chooses You”
Former Minneapolitan and St. Paul Pioneer Press reporter Hanners is now based in Manchester, England, but part of him remains in his old Hiawatha neighborhood, as his choked-up singing voice here attests. A good one to go out on:
The madman’s masked militia roams the streets of this town
Demanding your papers if you look Black or Brown
Cruelty is the point and it’s bearing bitter fruit
Take to the streets because history chooses you
Unmarked vans pull up and neighbors don’t come back
Did you see the face of that 5-year-old with a Spider-Man backpack?
Clouds of tear gas and pepper spray will not hide the truth
Brothers and sisters need help now and history chooses you
Camden to Nokomis is the new killing zone
The cavalry ain’t coming, we’re finally on our own
The tree of liberty must often be renewed
Minneapolis, history chooses you
We’ve seen this mob before, full of vinegar and piss
Skokie, Selma, Charlottesville, January 6th
Trump gave ‘em guns and badges, then he set them loose
They’ll learn flurries turn to blizzards when history chooses you
Camden to Nokomis is the new killing zone
The cavalry ain’t coming, we’re finally on our own
The tree of liberty must often be renewed
Minneapolis, history chooses you
His name was Alex Pretti, her name was Renee Good
Their blood sanctifies every street and neighborhood
They were good people, they did what they could do
Did not ask to be martyrs but sometimes history chooses you
Camden to Nokomis is the new killing zone
The cavalry ain’t coming, we’re finally on our own
The tree of liberty must often be renewed
Minneapolis, history chooses you
Minneapolis, history chooses you
The post ‘Streets of Minneapolis’: 32 protest songs inspired by the Twin Cities’ ICE resistance appeared first on MinnPost.
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