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Bruce Springsteen sings lines such as “Don’t tell me a lie and sell iand “I never put my faith in a con man” on a new Trump Era protest song, “That’s What Makes Us Great.”

The hard-edged, angry rock song, which is being released Wednesday morning, is credited to Joe Grushecky & the Houserockers with Bruce Springsteen. Grushecky wrote it, though — around the time that President Trump took office — and Springsteen sings duet vocals. The music is all by Grushecky and his Houserockers band. (Springsteen just sings).

Grushecky starts out the song by singing about immigrants “longing to be free,” and criticizes those who “wanna slam the door.” Together, he and Springsteen declare “Let’s turn this thing around/Before it gets too late” and ask “Is there a difference I can make?”

“I’m a college grad —  I started out as a political science major, and I’ve always worked with the underprivileged,” says Grushecky in an interview with NJArts.net. “My father is from a coal mining family. I’ve always been socially conscious and aware of what goes on around me.

“It’s just dumbfounding that this guy could even be elected, I thought to myself. (The song’s message) was probably percolating for a while.”

The song will premiere Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. on SiriusXM satellite radio’s E Street Radio channel, and will be available to download and purchase at joegrushecky.com.

The Pittsburgh-based Grushecky and his Houserockers band, who have worked with Springsteen many times before, will perform at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, July 8, and “That’s What Makes Us Great” is likely to be played in the show.

“It’s meant to be played by the band,” says Grushecky. 

It will also be part of Grushecky’s next album, which he expects to be out by the time of the Wonder Bar show.

“It’s a pretty straightahead-rock’n’roll-type record — a lot of loud guitars,” he says of the album. “Pretty much two electric guitars, acoustic guitars and vocals. Bass and drums. There’s not a lot of other instrumentation on it. Occasional saxophone, occasional harmonica. But it’s pretty much a straightahead rock ‘n’ roll record.”

Here are the lyrics of “That’s What Makes Us Great”: 

Grushecky:
They come from everywhere
All longing to be free
They come to join us here
From sea to shining sea

Grushecky and Springsteen:
And they all have a dream
As people always will
To be safe and warm
In that shining city on the hill

Grushecky:
Some wanna slam the door
Instead of opening the gate
Ah, let’s turn this thing around
Before it gets too late

Grushecky and Springsteen:
It’s up to me and you
Love can conquer hate
I know this to be true
That’s what makes us great

Springsteen:
Don’t tell me a lie
And sell it as a fact
I’ve been down that road before
And I ain’t goin’ back

And don’t you brag to me
That you never read a book
I never put my faith
In a con man and his crooks

Grushecky and Springsteen:
I won’t follow down that path
And tempt the hands of fate
Ah, let’s turn this thing around
Before it gets too late

It’s up to me and you
Love can conquer hate
I know this to be true
That’s what makes us great

Springsteen:
In the quiet of the night
I lie here wide awake
And I ask myself
Is there a difference I can make?

Grushecky and Springsteen:
Is there a difference I can make?

It’s up to me and you
Love can conquer hate
It’s up to me and you
Love can conquer hate
It’s up to me and you
Love can conquer hate
I know this to be true
And that’s what makes us great
That’s what makes us great
That’s what makes us great
That’s what makes us great

http://www.njarts.net/pop-rock...nistration-new-song/

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Bruce Springsteen Bashes Trump in New Protest Song

"I never put my faith/ In a con man and his crooks," Springsteen sings on collaboration with Joe Grushecky

Charles Mostoller/Getty


Bruce Springsteen bashes President Trump as a "con man" on "That's What Makes Us Great," his new protest song with longtime collaborator Joe Grushecky. "Don't tell me a lie/ And sell it as a fact/ I've been down that road before/ And I ain't going back," Springsteen sings on the track, Pitchfork reports.

The song premiered Wednesday morning on SiriusXM and Grushecky's website. At one point in the sharply worded tune, Springsteen proclaims, "Don't you brag to me/ That you never read a book/ I never put my faith/ In a con man and his crooks."

In an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Grushecky said he'd already written the song before initiating the collaboration. "I sent it to him and he liked it," he noted. "I said, 'What do you think about singing on it?' He gave it the Bruce treatment." The singer, who formerly fronted Pittsburgh rock band the Iron City Houserockers, added that Trump "lost [him] the moment he started making fun of special needs people," referring to an infamous speech where the Republican appeared to mimic a disabled reporter. "How could a person like that be president of the United States?"

Springsteen blasted Trump numerous times before and after the 2016 election, infamously calling him a "moron" in a September interview with Rolling Stone

"Well, you know, the republic is under siege by a moron, basically," he said. "The whole thing is tragic. Without overstating it, it's a tragedy for our democracy. When you start talking about elections being rigged, you're pushing people beyond democratic governance. And it's a very, very dangerous thing to do. Once you let those genies out of the bottle, they don't go back in so easy, if they go back in at all. 

"The ideas he's moving to the mainstream are all very dangerous ideas – white nationalism and the alt-right movement. The outrageous things that he's done – not immediately disavowing David Duke? These are things that are obviously beyond the pale for any previous political candidate. It would sink your candidacy immediately."

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