Arcade Fire covered Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” over the summer during their appearance at WayHome Festival. Frontman Win Butler tackled the Boss classic again last night, but this time the rendition took on a more political importance.
Butler performed the passionate cover at the Jam the Vote concert in New York’s Capitol Theatre, accompanied by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and the Blind Boys of Alabama. Before saddling up to a piano, Butler prefaced the performance with a short talk about the upcoming election.
“Thank you to everyone who organized this show,” he said. “I don’t think any of us wanna wake up in a couple days and realize we’ve allowed Donald Trump to be elected… I don’t want to live in that America.” Though Arcade Fire were originally based in Montreal, they’ve since taken up residence in New Orleans.
He added, “I want to thank all the immigrants. The Syrians who are still brave enough to try to find a better life. We need more of you… I want to thank everyone who came to America to make it the country that it is — thank you.”
Watch the Boss cover below (around the 3:15:00 mark).
Fans may be seeing more of Butler and co. in the near future, as Arcade Fire have just announced their first live show of 2017. The band will headline England’s Isle of Wight Festival on June 10th; it marks their first UK festival date since Glastonbury in 2014.
