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Bruce Springsteen - American Skin (41 Shots)

Bruce Springsteen - American Skin (41 Shots) Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band: Live In New York City.
Released: 2001

American Skin (41 Shots) Lyrics

American Skin (41 Shots) Song Chart

This song is about Amadou Diallo, a Guinean immigrant who was killed in his New York City doorway when New York City police shot at him 41 times after mistaking his wallet for a gun. Springsteen felt that the shooting was an egregious over-reaction by the police, who killed an innocent man.

This protest number was written in 2000 and played for the first time at a concert in Atlanta on June 4, 2000, over a year into Springsteen's tour with the reunited E Street Band. A live version was released on the Live in New York City album, and the same version appeared a few years later on The Essential Bruce Springsteen. In 2014, a studio version appeared on the album High Hopes. The Boss said in the liner notes for the album that he felt is was among the best songs he had written and deserved a proper studio recording.

The song sparked enormous media coverage when it was part of The Boss' tour-ending 10-night stand at Madison Square Garden in 2000. The performances of the song in New York resulted in protests by the New York City Police Department and the Police Benevolent Association, who saw it as an attack on the NYPD (some cops refused to work security at the shows). Springsteen has stressed that this song is not anti-police, but anti-tragedy.

Springsteen was honored by The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in recognition of this song.

This was the last song Springsteen and the band played on their 2001 HBO special, which was made up of footage from the last two shows of their 1999-2000 tour. It was the first televised Springsteen show.

The song has periodically reappeared on Springsteen's setlists in response to newsworthy events that deal with its subject matter. It was revived for the E Street Band's live set after the shooting of the African-American teenager Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012.

Springsteen described the thought process behind the track in his 2001 published lyric collection, Songs . "Though the song was critical, it was not 'anti-police' as some thought. The first voice you hear after the intro is from the policeman's point of view," he said. "I worked hard for a balanced voice. I knew a diatribe would do no good. I just wanted to help people see the other guy's point of view."