Who's The Boss?

By Ellin Martens

Bruce Springsteen rubbed some men in blue raw at his tour-closing concerts at New York City's Shea Stadium. It was when he performed American Skin (41 Shots), his song about the 1999 killing of West African immigrant Amadou Diallo by four police officers. The N.Y.P.D. yanked his escort for the next few nights, claiming it had been, after all, only a courtesy. Springsteen didn't sing Skin in his next two outings, and--presto!--his police detail was restored. Did the champion of the workingman back down? Maybe he just appreciated anew the lyrics of his song Thunder Road: "The door's open, but the ride it ain't free."