American Skin (41 Shots) - Live at Madison Square Garden

This song is about Amadou Diallo, a Guinean immigrant who was killed in his New York City doorway when New York City police shot at him 41 times after mistaking his wallet for a gun. Springsteen felt the shooting was an egregious over-reaction by the police, who killed an innocent man.

This protest number was written in 2000 and played for the first time at a concert in Atlanta on June 4, 2000, over a year into Springsteen's tour with the reunited E Street Band. A live version was released on the Live in New York City album, and the same version appeared a few years later on The Essential Bruce Springsteen. In 2014, a studio version appeared on the album High Hopes. The Boss said in the liner notes for the album that he felt is was among the best songs he had written and deserved a proper studio recording.

The song sparked enormous media coverage when it was part of The Boss' tour-ending 10-night stand at Madison Square Garden in 2000. The performances of the song in New York resulted in protests by the New York City Police Department and the Police Benevolent Association, who saw it as an attack on the NYPD (some cops refused to work security at the shows). Springsteen has stressed that this song is not anti-police, but anti-tragedy.