Springsteen Posts Gore's Anti-Bush Text
One of the things I've always admired about Bruce Springsteen is that he has always held some strong beliefs, but he has rarely used his fame to further those views. That appears to be changing, and I can't say that I'm upset about the reason for the change.
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Although open with his political opinions on stage, Bruce Springsteen generally shies away from such issues when not on the road and in the public eye.
The artist has broken from that tradition by posting the full text of a speech former Vice President Al Gore gave late last month during a MoveOn.org-sponsored appearance at New York University in the "news" section of his official Web site....
Springsteen, whose staunchly anti-war stance is well known to fans, calls Gore's remarks "one of the most important speeches I've heard in a long time. The issues it raises need to be considered by every American concerned with the direction our country is headed in. It's my pleasure to reprint it here for my fans"
At a time when most opposed to the George W. Bush White House have backed off rhetoric in the wake of former president Ronald Reagan's death, the site gives Gore's anti-Bush criticisms a new forum. As a result, it has sparked a firestorm of conversation in Springsteen discussion groups on the official site and elsewhere on the Net.
Only once in recent memory has Springsteen used his site in a political manner. In April 2003, he publicly supported the Dixie Chicks while the group was suffering a backlash following singer Natalie Maines' remarks distancing the Texas trio's lineage from Bush, the state's former governor, during a London concert appearance.
"Right now, we are supposedly fighting to create freedom in Iraq, at the same time that some are trying to intimidate and punish people for using that same freedom here at home," Springsteen lamented at the time.
I've often heard it said that music and politics don't mix. Of course, whoever said that must have slept through the '60s. The message needs to get out, and if it takes a musician of Springsteen's stature to reach a few more people, then why not? The only hope we have of replacing he miserable failure occupying the White House is if people anywhere and everywhere begin beating the drums.
