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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