Bruce Springsteen opens first post-election show with ‘a fighting prayer for my country’
Ahead of the presidential election, Bruce Springsteen, who’s been touring in Canada, introduced his song “Long Walk Home” as “a prayer for my country.” And in his first post-election show Nov. 6 in Toronto, he underscored that sentiment by actually opening the show with that song.
At the concert, he first apologized to the audience for starting late due a flight delay, then introduced the song by saying, “This is a fighting prayer for my country.”
The lyrics for “Long Walk Home,” from Bruce’s album Magic, go in part, “My father said ‘Son, we’re lucky in this town/ It’s a beautiful place to be born/ It just wraps its arms around you/ Nobody crowds you and nobody goes it alone/ Your flag flyin’ over the courthouse/ Means certain things are set in stone/ Who we are, what we’ll do and what we won’t.'”
He followed that up with another fitting song, “Land of Hope and Dreams,” which he performed at a rally for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz on Oct. 28. In that song, he sings, “Leave behind your sorrows/ Let this day be the last/ Tomorrow there’ll be sunshine/ And all this darkness past.”
According to setlist.fm, Bruce also took requests from the audience for two other songs that appeared to match that theme: “Reason to Believe” and “Better Days.”
In addition to campaigning with Harris, Springsteen appeared in an ad for her and posted a lengthy video on Instagram explaining why he was voting for her.
But the Nov. 6 show wasn’t all seriousness: As part of his first encore, Bruce also performed his holiday favorite tune, “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town,” after a fan requested it.
Bruce’s next show is Nov. 9 in Ottawa, Canada.
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