phil ringnalda

For the ten billionth time: Bruce Springsteen’s Born In The USA is not patriotic music. How hard is it to actually listen to the lyrics?

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

Okay, patriotic start: dead man’s town and dog that’s been beat too much are certainly things that make me start chanting “U-S-A, U-S-A”.

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

Still okay on the patriotism front, since there are probably people who think that a forced enlistment and killing some gooks is the best way to straighten up a juvenile delinquent.

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"

Ruh roh, our veteran can’t get a job, and the VA is no help. Um, “U-S-A, U-S-A”?

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

Ah, hopelessness, and the threat of prison. U-S-A! U-S-A!

If you’re still having trouble grasping the nature of the song, try listening to the version on the Live In New York City CD, where it’s done in the slow, mournful style that I’m told is the usual concert version.