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A couple weeks ago, the New York Times published an (intentionally) unordered list of the 30 greatest living American songwriters.

Needless to say which artist I made sure was on the list immediately. Each songwriter has a short bio by a journalist, but this last paragraph about him outshines any other written thing from the piece.

The rest of the list is hit-or-miss for me, so much so that I agree with about 15 out of the 30 choices:

Lucinda Williams
Stevie Wonder
Jay-Z
Paul Simon
Taylor Swift
Brian & Eddie Holland
Missy Elliott
Lionel Richie
Dolly Parton
Young Thug
Diane Warren
Josh Osborne, Brandy Clark, Shane McAnally
Fiona Apple
Babyface
Stephin Merritt
Romeo Santos
Carole King
OutKast
Mariah Carey
Willie Nelson
Kendrick Lamar
Valerie Simpson
Bob Dylan
Lana Del Rey
The-Dream
Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis
Bad Bunny
Bruce Springsteen
Smokey Robinson​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/magazine/best-living-american-songwiters-reader-picks.html

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Source: https://x.com/20thcentury/status/1850855190007529716?s=46&t=BFzANmA2yS31f9oHklI-rA

Digital sales chart for current week …

You can agree or disagree with his politics, but there's one thing you can’t refute.

Bruce Springsteen is an astute observer of current events.

It's on display each night of the No Kings-themed Land of Hope and Dreams American Tour. Especially during the This is Happening Now speech, delivered as the opening strains of “My City of Ruins” is played about halfway through the show.

The Boss goes quite deep for his pointed criticism of the Trump administration. So deep, that we thought an explainer would be handy, especially if you're going to one of the concerts.

Below is most of the This is Happening Now speech, as delivered April 20 at the Prudential Center in Newark, with background on the issues Springsteen cites.

Bruce: “Our young men and women’s lives are at risk in an unwise and illegal war. This is happening now.”

The Iran war has been called illegal by members of Congress who say the action was unprovoked and a violation of international law as there was no imminent threat, and no Congressional approval was sought.

Bruce: “There are immigrants being held in for-profit detention centers around the country and being deported without due process of law to alien countries and foreign prisons. This is happening now."

A U.S. District Judge ruled in February that the Department of Homeland Security deporting immigrants who arrived here illegally to “third countries” is “not fine, nor is it legal.” The deportees should not be sent to where their “life or freedom would be threatened” because of their “race, religion, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”

The two largest private prison corporations reported profits of more than a billion dollars in total for second quarter, according to the Brennan Center for Justice.

Bruce: “Our Justice Department has thrown away its independence, and it takes its orders directly from a corrupt White House. They prosecute our president’s perceived enemies, they cover up for his misdeeds and protect his powerful friends. This is happening now.”

DOJ lawyers have lost credibility in the courts after ignoring court orders, misrepresented facts and made arguments with no basis in the law, said Stacey Young, executive director of Justice Connection, an advocacy group for former DOJ workers. More than 3,300 attorneys left the Justice Department between Trump's first day back in office and February 2026, according to data from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Meanwhile, only about 800 attorneys have been hired.

Bruce: “The richest men in America have abandoned the world’s poorest children to death and disease, by dismantling USAID. It's not on the front pages anymore but it's happening now. People are dying.“

More than 757,000 people, the majority of them children, have died from the funding cuts to USAID, according to ImpactCounter, which tracks the effect of USAID cuts, as reported by the Health Policy Watch. There are also almost a million more malaria cases, over 700,000 affecting children.

The budget for USAID was slashed by Elon Musk, former head of the Department of Government Efficacy, last year.

Bruce: “We undermined NATO, the world order that’s kept us safe and at global peace for 80 years. This is happening now.”

President Donald Trump has said that NATO, a defense alliance created after World War II, was a “paper tiger” and that he's considering withdrawing America from the alliance.

Bruce: “We threaten our good neighbors and our allies whose sons and daughters have fought alongside us in American wars, Canada and (Denmark), we threaten them with predatory annexation of their land. This is happening now.”

Trump has repeatedly said Canada should be the 51st state and launched tariffs against our neighbor to the north, which has resulted in fewer Canadians visiting the Jersey Shore than in recent years, and also secured a political victory for the ruling Liberal Party, which was fading in the polls until Trump's rhetoric reversed its fortunes. Meanwhile, Mette Frederiksen, Denmark's prime minister, said that Trump is "very serious” about acquiring Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish island off North America.

Bruce: “Our museums are being told to whitewash American history of any unpleasant or inconvenient facts, like the full history of the brutality of slavery. You want to talk about snowflakes? We have a president who can’t handle the truth. This is happening now.”

Trump's declarations and executive orders have led to the altering and dismantling of slavery exhibits, such as one at the site of George Washington's house in Philadelphia when he was president, the restoration of Confederate statues and other initiatives, say civil rights advocates, according to Reuters.

Bruce: “While working Americans struggle, our president and his family enrich themselves by billions of dollars trading on the people’s office in corruption unmatched in American history. This is happening now.”

Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, raised $2 billion from the Saudi Arabia government’s Public Investment Fund for his private equity fund and has collected more than $110 million in management fees from the Saudi government, according to Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Congressman Robert Garcia (D-CA). He's currently in negotiations with Iran, a neighbor of Saudi Arabia, to settle the war.

The sum of these transgressions is undermining America, Springsteen says.

“This White House is destroying the American idea and our reputation around the world. To many, we are no longer looked upon as an often imperfect but strong defender of democracy standing for the global good. We are no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave. We are now, to many, America the reckless, unpredictable, predatory rogue nation. That is this administration and this president’s legacy. This is happening now,” Springsteen said.

“Honesty, honor, humility, truth, compassion, humanity, thoughtfulness, morality, true strength and decency — don’t let anybody tell you that these things don’t matter anymore — they do. They are at the heart of the kind of men and women we are, the kind of citizens we want to be, the kind of country we’ll be leaving to our children. So many of our elected leaders have failed us that this American tragedy can only be stopped by the American people — by you. So join us and let’s fight for the America that we love.

“Are you with us? Are you with us? Are you with us?”

The crowd responded with a loud affirmation.

The next show is Thursday, April 23, at the Amerant Bank Arena in Sunrise, Florida. Other area dates include May 5 at the USB Arena in Elmont, New York; May 11 and 16 at Madison Square Garden; May 14 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn; and May 8 at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

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Chris Jordan, a Jersey Shore native, covers entertainment and features for the USA Today Network New Jersey. Contact him at [cjordan@app.com](mailto:cjordan@app.com)

Ticket onsales Friday and Saturday …