Bruce Springsteen: Born in the U.S.A. Meaning

Born in the U.S.A. Lyrics
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The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
'Til you spend half your life just covering up
[chorus:]
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the...
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1TOP RATED
anonymous Feb 2nd, 2007 2:37pm report
As angry a protest song as been heard in a decade when it was released in 84. Take the first line. Angry, aware, and matter of fact, it tells straight up a story of a forgotten, cast away member of a lost generation who gave everything, and without a silver spoon to bail him out, spent the rest of his time searching. Without a job, direction or the respect of the country he thought he was fighting for, he can't even find the simplest of vocations. The last line alludes to Springsteen's dim faith in his fellow Americans. After all he's given and had spat back at him, he's still "a cool rockin' daddy in the USA."
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2TOP RATED
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anonymous Jan 4th, 1:22pm report
“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”
The first stanza tells the story about a kid born in a little town, abused since a young age.
“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”
He gets drafted and sent to the Vietnam war
“Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said ‘son if it was up to me’
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said ‘son, don't you understand’”
Post war he comes back, tries to apply for a job and doesn’t get it due to the public not supporting the war and thinking that the soldiers did horrible things
“I had a brother at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone”
His brother was killed in Vietnam, the Vietnamese are still there and his brother is dead (The war was pointless)
“He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now”
His brother had a family he left behind
“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”
He’s been sent to prison -
anonymous Dec 24th, 2017 12:08am report
To really understand the song you have to go back and listen to one of the original, acoustic versions. It hasn't got the beat and the rhythm of the hit single, it's rough, it's raw and it is not easy on the ear. But it is full of emotion. Then someone saw the song's commercial potential and repackaged it as something which sounded totally different to what it really was. When challenged at the time (that in Reagan's America the hit song seemed to appeal to the very opposite emotions of what it meant) I think Bruce replied, that every time he sung it, someone else else in the audience would understand for themselves what the song was all about.
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kooljohn176 Sep 23rd, 2016 9:12pm report
A song that was and is about the hurtful and angry Vietnam war Veteran ''Born In The U.S.A'' that did and was willing to sacrifice his life for US and our country. BUT when coming home from the war he wasn't honored and respected as much as he should've been. If anything he was disrespected by the Government and the Media that created more anger and disrespect within the Country that needed to have his back against them and not to trust and feel proud of them anymore. I believe that's why Bruce has his back ass on the album cover towards us[the certain people in govn't and media] that used US the Veterans like loyal dogs for war, only to be beaten down when coming home.
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anonymous Feb 4th, 2016 2:09pm report
Its about putting your ugly ass on the cover of a record.
And then expecting us to look??
For gods sake you cant be serious. -
anonymous Dec 10th, 2015 12:32pm report
A vet that is returning to America and facing hardship back in America. Protest song.
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anonymous Nov 28th, 2011 11:11pm report
It's a protest song. The Vietnam War was the first war the U.S. didn't win and when the army got back, the public was like our army sucks. Little know fact: Chevy offered Springsteen money to use it, but he turned it down. It's not about how proud you are to be American. It's about the hardships the army faced.
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anonymous Sep 23rd, 2011 9:17pm report
It's about the treatment of Veitnam vets. He wanted the public to wake up and realize that they wanted to mourn their fallen instead of being treated as heros. Or something like that.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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