If Bruce Springsteen’s feelings about Donald Trump weren’t already crystal clear, his new protest anthem, recorded with old friend and Houserockers frontman Joe Grushesky, should do the trick.
Released Wednesday, “That’s What Makes Us Great” targets Trump’s immigration decrees and flexible relationship with the truth with lines like, “Some wanna slam the door instead of opening the gate / Let’s turn this thing around before it gets too late.”
On another verse, Springsteen sings, “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.”
Grushesky, a Pittsburgh native who has been friends with Springsteen for decades, told the Pittsburgh Gazette: “I had this song, and Bruce and I had been talking. I sent it to him and he liked it. I said, ‘What do you think about singing on it?’ He gave it the Bruce treatment.”
The song was a mostly digital creation. Grushesky said the Houserockers recorded the initial track, and Springsteen emailed his vocal from New Jersey after completing his world tour with the E Street band in February.
Springsteen and Grushecky last collaborated on the latter’s 2009 album, East Carson Street.
“That’s What Makes Us Great” made its debut on E Street Radio on Sirius XM on Wednesday morning, and is available for download on Grushesky’s web site for 99 cents, here, and will reportedly become available on iTunes and other streaming services at a later date.
In the meantime, check out Paste’s list of the 25 best Springsteen songs here and enjoy this incredible Boss show from 1978, from the bottomless Paste Cloud.