True Meaning of Born In The USA

Born In The USA as many of you know is a rock song and album from the year 1984 by Bruce Springsteen. The album was widely successful, selling 30 million copies by 2012 and producing 7 top-10 singles. The album cover is a photo that doesn't even show Springsteen's face, instead it reveals the most iconic butt in rock and roll (showing working class symbols such as the blue jeans, white t-shirt & baseball cap in the back pocket) in front of an American flag that filled record and cd shelves for decades to come. 

Lyric Meaning

Although lots of people know the song, sadly, very few know what message Springsteen is trying to convey to the listeners. Beginning with the fact that according to Spotify, BITUSA is the most listened to song on the 4th of July. Proving the fact that a countless number of Americans still believe that the song is a proud uplifting anthem.

1st verse:
"Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up"

Already the lyrics show an anti-war message and tries to remind America of our ideals. Springsteen is singing as a Vietnam veteran suffering from tough times. Being born in a dead man's town can give a feeling of an economic decline and no hope for prosperity. Later in the verse he sings, "You end up like a dog that's been beat too much, till you spend half your life just covering up" Which can compare the dog to a soldier returning to war and not receiving the recognition and welcome he deserves.

2nd verse:
"Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man"

The lyrics in this verse shows the young man getting drafted to fight in Vietnam. About 1/4 (648,500) of the soldiers that served were draftees. Springsteen himself was actually a "draft dodger" because he purposefully failed his physical so he could continue his music career. 

3rd verse: 
"Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says "Son if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "Son, don't you understand"'

The veteran in the song is now back from war and he realizes how hard it is to fit in with society and get a job. Many of the young men back from war were conflicted with physical injuries, emotional problems or drug addictions from their time in Vietnam that prevented employers from hiring them. As soldiers returned home, they weren't greeted as heroes like they were for World War II. Instead, they were seen as a national failure because the U.S. was defeated. A lot of veterans were called rude names and even spit on upon arrival back to America. President Obama spoke his opinion on the treatment of Vietnam veterans on Memorial Day in 2012, saying "You were often blamed for a war you didn't start when you should have been commended for serving your country with valor." Which is a lot like what Springsteen is trying to get his listeners to understand in the song.

4th verse:
"I had a brother at Khe Sanh fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone..
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now"

One of the character's (literal or figurative) brothers who fought with him in the war has died in the battle of Khe Sanh in 1968. This battle was eventually proven to be pointless because Americans broke the siege only to withdraw from their outpost a few months later. In the lyrics, the man who died also had a girlfriend who he leaves behind because of the war.

5th & final verse:
"Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go"

The veteran is reflecting on the many people he knows who are in prison or can't find a job like himself. This can relate to the notion of the first verse and how not much has changed economically for veterans and they are still having a hard time finding jobs and a place to fit in society. "10 years burning down the road" considers the time Springsteen wrote the song, 1984 which is almost 10 years after the war ended in 1975. Having nowhere to run and nowhere to go means the veteran has lost his sense of guidance, even with a decade gone by.

Misinterpretations

In 1984, during the campaign for his 2nd term as President, Ronald Reagan used the song briefly as a campaign song. Reagan was quoted for saying, "America's future rests in a thousand dreams inside our hearts. It rests in the message of hope in the songs of a man so many young Americans admire: New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen. And helping you make those dreams come true is what this job of mine is all about." Springsteen asked the Reagan campaign stop using his song after this statement. Springsteen explains the song by saying "'Born in the U.S.A' is about a working class man [in the midst of a] spiritual crisis, in which a man is left lost …it's like he has nothing left to tie him to society anymore. He's isolated from the government, isolated from his family, to the point where nothing makes sense." Springsteen questioned how much of his music Reagan has really listened to saying to an audience a few days after this incident, "I kind of got to wondering what his favorite album of mine must’ve been, you know? I don’t think it was the Nebraska album. I don’t think he’s been listening to this one.” Then he launched into his song 'Johnny 99' about a criminal serving life in prison. 

Even in recent times, politicians and news sources haven't realized that the song is not a positive and proud anthem for the United States.
Donald Trump used the song last year during his campaign to take a dig at Ted Cruz and the accusations of him being born in Canada. Also, during the insanity of our 2016 election cycle Trump played Glory Days at one of his rallies, causing the crowd to boo because Springsteen is very liberal and against Trump. 


Another example from just a week ago was when Bruce said in Australia that he was an "embarrassed American" after Trump's phone call with the Australian prime minister. (which I wrote more about in my last post) This caused controversy among many conservative news outlets, including Fox news that said, "Bruce Springsteen, a once proud American with his song 'Born in the USA.." Through the lyrics of BITUSA there is a hidden sense of pride in the fact that Springsteen wants to see America prosper and recover from the damage the Vietnam War caused. However, what many sources like this don't understand is that Springsteen has speaking about his views on America and politics for almost his entire career, with songs showing both the positive and negative aspects of American life. He uses his music and lyrics as a platform to display his opinions and views on a variety of subjects. 

Born in the USA - live 1988

33 years burning down the road, ain't got no one understandin' this song anymore