Born in the U.S.A. born 25 years ago

February 6th, 2007

Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska is one of my favorite albums. I had heard he recorded Born in the U.S.A. for that album, but it didn’t make the cut. The only way that song made sense on Nebraska was its lyrics, and that puzzle stuck around until last month, when I found the Nebraska version of Born in the U.S.A. online. I’ve listened to that version a dozen times since then and I get chills each play. Springsteen recorded that song January 1982, which makes that song a quarter-century old.

If you’re in the crowd that think this song’s a patriotic anthem, here are 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
‘Til you spend half your life just covering up

Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.

I got in a little hometown jam
And so they put a rifle in my hands
Sent me off to Vietnam
To go and kill the yellow man

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says “Son if it was up to me”
I go down to see the V.A. man
He said “Son don’t you understand”

I had a buddy at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They’re still there, he’s all gone
He had a little girl in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I’m ten years down the road
Nowhere to run, ain’t got nowhere to go

I’m a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I’m a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.

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