“Atlantic City,” Bruce Springsteen’s dark ballad about a troubled man taking a job for the mob, has been covered countless times since it was first released in 1982. The Band, Mumford and Sons, The Counting Crows, and Ben Harper are among the many artist who have recorded the classic tune.
Now, Vice editor Gabrielle Bluestone has found a way to put her own spin on it. She used the lyrics, in their entirety, to take down the Trump administration in an unbelievable Twitter thread.
Well they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night pic.twitter.com/Uz6nzQfY83
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
And they blew up his house too pic.twitter.com/9zs6AoAgcO
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
Down on the boardwalk they’re gettin’ ready for a fight pic.twitter.com/REKI16Gltj
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
Gonna see what them racket boys can do pic.twitter.com/k6yDqM7fF4
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
In Springsteen’s original, “The Chicken Man” referred to mafia boss Philip Testa, who was killed by a nail bomb. Here, Bluestone uses it as a metaphor for Paul Manafort, who turned himself into the FBI on Monday.
But she’s just getting started. There’s a whole song to get through and Bluestone manages to find an image for every lyric the Boss wrote.
Now there’s trouble busin’ in from outta state pic.twitter.com/USNNxkMDPF
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
And the D.A. can’t get no relief pic.twitter.com/TddDn2TVZh
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade pic.twitter.com/H9elzeVbu7
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
And the gamblin’ commissions hangin’ on by the skin of its teeth pic.twitter.com/1ji85cpI4y
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
Everything dies baby that’s a fact pic.twitter.com/JfjOTHMi5c
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back pic.twitter.com/uTTpY6UGb9
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
Put your makeup on pic.twitter.com/kP7Xrw5JG8
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
Fix your hair up pretty pic.twitter.com/lJJzyWGTj9
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City pic.twitter.com/JRdqZbFFbG
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
There are pictures and screenshots for all the lyrics.
So honey last night I met this guy and I’m gonna do a little favor for him pic.twitter.com/w4jyZPpnY1
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
Put your makeup on pic.twitter.com/QPH3XK4oHt
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
Fix your hair up pretty pic.twitter.com/96Q12TRiqG
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City pic.twitter.com/I7o6dTDHcb
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
And, as she points out, the people who Trump surrounds himself with might get fired.
Everything dies baby that’s a fact pic.twitter.com/OCA2z17CSt
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
But they’re never really gone.
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back pic.twitter.com/eYNAc8YoFN
— Gabrielle Bluestone (@g_bluestone) November 1, 2017
It’s a brilliant sendup and one worth reading in its entirety. With any luck, Bluestone will give us an encore. We humbly suggest “Born in the U.S.A.”
An ‘extremely credible source’ has called my office and told me that @BarackObama‘s birth certificate is a fraud.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2012
