Tonight, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band opened their Land of Hope & Dreams Tour in Manchester, England. Bruce launched this run of shows with three statements about the situation in the United States, with comments preceding his songs “Land of Hope and Dreams,” “House of a Thousand Guitars” and “My City of Ruins.” Below are the transcripts of all three spoken segments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Introduction to Land of Hope and Dreams<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Good Evening!<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s great to be in Manchester and back in the U.K. Welcome to the Land of Hope & Dreams Tour! The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock ‘n’ roll in dangerous times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Introduction to House of a Thousand Guitars<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The last check, the last check on power after the checks and balances of government have failed are the people, you and me. It\u2019s in the union of people around a common set of values now that\u2019s all that stands between a democracy and authoritarianism. At the end of the day, all we’ve got is each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Introduction to My City of Ruins<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There’s some very weird, strange and dangerous shit 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In America, the richest men are taking satisfaction in abandoning the world\u2019s poorest children to sickness and death. This is happening now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my country, they’re taking sadistic pleasure in the pain they inflict on loyal American workers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They’re rolling back historic civil rights legislation that has led to a more just and plural society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They are abandoning our great allies and siding with dictators against those struggling for their freedom. They are defunding American universities that won\u2019t bow down to their ideological demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They are removing residents off American streets and, without due process of law, are deporting them to foreign detention centers and prisons. This is all happening now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A majority of our elected representatives have failed to protect the American people from the abuses of an unfit president and a rogue government. They have no concern or idea for what it means to be deeply American. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The America l’ve sung to you about for 50 years is real and regardless of its faults is a great country with a great people. So we’ll survive this moment. Now, I have hope, because I believe in the truth of what the great American writer James Baldwin said. He said, “In this world, there isn’t as much humanity as one would like, but there’s enough.\u201d Let\u2019s pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n