American Skin (41 Shots)
| "American Skin (41 Shots)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Bruce Springsteen | ||||
| from the album Live in New York City | ||||
| Released | April 24, 2001 (original live version) January 14, 2014 (new studio version) | |||
| Recorded | March 2, 2001 (original live version) March 2013 (new studio version) | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 7:45/5:14 (original live version/short version) 7:22 (new studio version) | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bruce Springsteen | |||
| Producer(s) |
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| Bruce Springsteen singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "American Skin (41 Shots)" on YouTube | ||||
"American Skin (41 Shots)" is a song written by Bruce Springsteen, inspired by the police shooting and death of Amadou Diallo by four NYPD police officers who were subsequently acquitted on all charges.
The performance of the song was seen as controversial and led to boycotts and a call from the then Mayor of New York for Springsteen to not perform the song. Despite this, the song was performed throughout a ten date residency at Madison Square Garden, and has been performed on a number of subsequent tours, often dedicated to recent victims of police violence.