“The future of America rests on a thousand dreams… it rests on the message of hope in the songs that so many young Americans admire: those of Bruce Springsteen. And helping us make those dreams come true is precisely my job,” said Ronald Reagan in one of his most popular speeches in 1984.
That year the presidential elections in the United States, The Republican was seeking re-election and in his words he made reference to “Born in the USA”Bruce Springsteen’s single that would give name to his seventh studio album and a worldwide hit that served as a flag of American patriotism.
However, The message I was trying to convey was completely different..
The story behind Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”
The cover of the album – Springsteen’s butt in tight jeans with a cap hanging down and the American flag in the background – served as a facade for what the New Jersey singer really wanted to say.. However, during the campaign, one of Reagan’s conservative party advisors, seeing only the superficiality of the image, came up with an idea: have him pose with Reagan.
bruce springsteen.webp
To your surprise, the “Boss” did not accept the offer and it was clear why. Springsteen was speaking to the working class and the younger generation of the North American country, groups that opposed Reagan’s proposals. The solution they found to that was to name it in a speech, which consisted of the words that can be read at the beginning of the note, and which changed the meaning of the song for many.
The hopeful tone and “happy” sounds of the song concealed a deep lyric that talked about the Vietnam War. In fact, it was inspired by the memoirs Born on the 4th of July of the ex-combatant in Vietnam Ron Kovicand was originally going to be called “Vietnam”. One of the stanzas reads:
“I got into a pickle in the city
So they put a rifle in my hand
They sent me to a foreign land
To go kill the yellow man”
“Born in the USA” was first recorded in 1981in acoustic format, for the album Nebraska, although it was discarded. Two years later he recorded it again with the rock style that can be heard in the studio version. What seemed like red and white stripes with stars was actually a protest song against a nation blinded to its own patriotism.. Additionally, that album was Springsteen’s best-selling album, with 30 million copies worldwide.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
