By Emma
When Bruce Springsteen released ‘Born in the USA’ on
June 4 1984, many people thought that it was a song
about American pride, but it has a very different
message. The song tells us about the difficulties the
Vietnam veterans faced after the war, not just being ignored, but how
hard it was to get jobs and fit in with society.
The veterans found it difficult on their return because many people did
not believe that America should be involved in the war, even though the
soldiers were conscripted. The soldiers were treated poorly because the
Vietnam War was the first war that America did not come home
victorious. The song sold over 18 million copies world wide with 15 million
sold in the US alone. Bruce Springsteen say’s that ‘Born in the USA’ was
his best song ever but is disappointed that it is so misread.
The song tells us about a young man who grew up in a small industrial town
in America, where times were tough, life was not that exciting, and
violence was all around. He states this through the lines, ‘Born down in a
dead mans town the first kick I got was when I hit the ground’. This boy
learns to get through this tough up-bringing by covering up the things
he’d done wrong. Springsteen displays this through the lines, ‘You end up
like a dog that's been beat too much til you spend half your life just
covering up.’
Springsteen emphasises his point in the chorus ‘Born in the USA,’
(repeated four times) telling people that these veterans are American,
and should not be treated differently. Springsteen appears to get more
frustrated by every line.
In the second verse, we find out the young man Springsteen is singing
about, ‘…Got in a little hometown jam’, meaning he got into some mischief,
and was conscripted to go to Vietnam to fight the Vietcong (also known as
the yellow man). We learn this through the words, ‘And so they put a rifle
in my hands sent me off to Vietnam to go and kill the yellow man,’
The next verse talks about after the war and the trouble the man in the
song experienced. Problems like trying to get a job, and trying to fit in
with society. This verse tells how the man tried to get a job back at the
refinery but nobody would hire him because they do not want people to
think they are supporting the veterans who most people are ashamed of.
The man then goes to the “V.A. man”, or the department of veteran
affairs, which is the government department that look after veterans of
war. They don’t seem to be able to provide any solution or help, but simply
say…… ‘Son don’t you understand.’
We discover in the next verse what life was like during the war, where
many friendships were formed, but shortly after finding many of these
friends being ‘Killed Off’. Those that were killed were also fathers (‘... he
had a little girl in Saigon’), as many children were born to American
soldiers and Vietcong women. Springsteen says, ‘I had a buddy at Khe
Sahn fighting off the Viet Cong they're still there, he's all gone’.
The song finishes by telling us about where the man is ‘ten years down
the road’. He has got a job at the refinery but is not enjoying it and feels
trapped by life. He says he has “no where to run, ain’t got nowhere to go”,
which is often how the Vietnam veterans felt. The final chorus reinforces
this, and although he feels trapped in his current life, no matter how hard
he tries, he can’t go forward or get away from his past. He is just a ‘long
gone Daddy in the USA’ and a ‘cool rocking Daddy in the USA’.
‘Born in the U.S.A’ is about the situations the Vietnam veterans went
through during and after the Vietnam War, both emotionally and mentally.
I chose this song because I was stunned this kind of thing would happen,
even when the veterans didn’t have a choice as to whether they went to
war or not. It also shows how different this war was compared to other
wars. In the world wars, veterans came back heroes, but because many
people did not agree with the Vietnam War, these veterans were treated
differentially both during and after the war, and suffered as a result.
Interestingly, America was not the only country to respond in this way,
with many Australian veterans also treated unfairly.
‘Born in the USA’
Bruce Springsteen
1984
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
[chorus:]
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
[chorus]
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"
[chorus]
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.