Since quarantine began which feels like forever ago, Bruce Springsteen has taken to his SiriusXM station to spin some songs in an hour-long session.
Today’s set on E-Street Radio was somber and reflected the tone of what the country is going through.
Opening up the set with his sadly appropriate “American Skin (41 Shots)” from 2000 about the 1999 murder of Amadou Diallo by the New York Police Department.
“Eight minutes,” Springsteen said. “That song is almost eight minutes long. That’s how long it took George Floyd to die with a Minneapolis officer’s knee buried into his neck. 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 weight. Then he had no pulse. And still it went on … May he rest in peace.”
You can hear his message below.
Throughout the set, Springsteen played songs from Billie Holiday, Childish Gambino, Kanye West, Bob Marley and the Wailers and three from Bob Dylan.
“We remain haunted, generation after generation, by our original sin of slavery,” Springsteen said prior to playing Dylan’s “Blind Willie McTell.” “It remains the great unresolved issue of American society. The weight of its baggage gets heavier with each passing generation. As of this violent, chaotic week on the streets of America, there is no end in sight.”
Over the past week, a number of artists have spoken out following Floyd’s murder, including Killer Mike, Gorillaz, Jay-Z, Lorde and LL Cool J among many others.
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