Lyrics:
Through the winter’s ice and cold
Down Nicollet Avenue
A city aflame fought fire and ice
‘Neath an occupier’s boots
King Trump’s private army from the DHS
Guns belted to their coats
Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law
Or so their story goes
Against smoke and rubber bullets
By the dawn’s early light
Citizens stood for justice
Their voices ringing through the night
And there were bloody footprints
Where mercy should have stood
And two dead left to die on snow-filled streets
Alex Pretti and Renee Good
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
Here in our home they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
Trump’s federal thugs beat up on
His face and his chest
Then we heard the gunshots
And Alex Pretti lay in the snow, dead
Their claim was self defense, sir
Just don’t believe your eyes
It’s our blood and bones
And these whistles and phones
Against Miller and Noem’s dirty lies
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Crying through the bloody mist
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
Now they say they’re here to uphold the law
But they trample on our rights
If your skin is black or brown my friend
You can be questioned or deported on sight
In chants of ICE out now
Our city’s heart and soul persists
Through broken glass and bloody tears
On the streets of Minneapolis
Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
Here in our home they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis

CITY OF HEROES
The ghost of Martin Niemöller
Haunts the halls of history 
When they came for the communists
He said “It’s nothing to do with me”
When they came for the democrats
He had nothing to say
And when they came for the Jews
He just looked the other way
His silence didn’t save him
When they came for him as well
There was no one to speak out for him
Resistance had been quelled
What excuses would you tell yourself 
If this ever happened to you?
Well I live in a city of heroes
I know what I would do
When they came for the immigrants
I got in their face
When they came for the refugees
I got in their face
When they came for the five-year-olds
I got in their face
When they came to my neighbourhood
I just got in their face
They use tear gas and pepper spray
Against our whistles and our phones
But in this city of heroes
We will protect our home
When they dragged people from their cars
I got in their face
When they took families from their homes
I got in their face
When they murdered our sister
I got in their face
When they murdered our brother
I still got in their face
In Dachau Martin Niemöller
Suffered for his complicity
But in this city of heroes
We learn the lessons of history
I will bear witness to terror
I will bear witness to tyranny
I will bear witness to murder
I will bear witness to fascism
Words and Music by Billy Bragg
Engineered, recorded and mixed by Jamie Parker at Echo Town Studio, Dorset
Image taken on the streets of Minneapolis on Friday 23rd January 2026 by Jim Walsh