Photo of A dramatic black and white close-up of the iconic Statue of Liberty in New York City by Vinicius Dattwyler | Pexels
In the past, I have tried to avoid being overly political in my music and in these notes. Of course, I have not always succeeded at that because I am someone who cares about these things.
This song is about the invasion of the Twin Cities area by the federal government. As long as I live, I will never forget the sight of men armed to the teeth cruising the streets of the Twin Cities and its suburbs with no apparent mission other than terror.
The populations they targeted have been in Minnesota for decades and over 90% are citizens.Their rationale was to apprehend criminals, yet I’ve read that only 5% of those detained in Minnesota had any kind of criminal record. This was a war on citizens with brutality and callousness. They harassed children, elderly, disabled, and anyone else who had little chance of fighting back.
I never thought I would be a witness to something like this in America. If you want to see what it really looked like, look at the video that goes with the song by Bruce Springsteen, Streets of Minneapolis.
For my part, I wanted to create a rock song that harnessed some of my anger and outrage and deep, deep disappointment in the America where I’ve grown up. I think Minnesota has shown the world that tyranny is no match for compassion, neighborliness, independence, and the American ability to get things done quickly and efficiently. Here, it was organizing the resistance. The invasion was pointless and tragic, but the response was inspirational.
The song is available on all streaming services, and if you do not have a music service, you can access the song on YouTube: https://youtu.be/W3C4Ou0tSYE
If you would like to check out the lyrics: http://craigjhansen.com/call-out/