When this album came out, it was easy to dismiss it as a typical bit of jingoistic, flag waving propaganda. Indeed, Ronald Reagan himself started using the title track as a campaign rally song. However, when you start listening to what Bruce is actually singing the level of disconnect between the bombastic chorus and the verses is enough to give you whiplash.
Born In The USA is a bitter and angry song about the fate of American GIs coming back from Vietnam to find that there are no blue collar jobs in their home towns and then ending up broken and in jail from post traumatic stress. Other songs have similarly veiled barbs - Cover Me is again about coping with hidden trauma and Dancing in the Dark is about someone with a crippling lack of self confidence, at odds with the jaunty, danceable synth pop music.
For me, this album is at its best in the quieter moments, and I’m glad that he chose My Hometown as the closing number which mixes nostalgia with frank honesty about a town suffering from unemployment and racial tensions.
I think that this album is probably Springsteen’s ‘Dylan Goes Electric’ moment that took him from earnest folk troubadour to mega stardom, maybe alienating some of his earlier fans while gaining a whole lot more.
Flag-tastic!
https://album.link/gb/i/203708420
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