Bruce Springsteen’s political voice: the seismic impact of ‘Born in the USA’
As far as all-American rock stars go, you won’t find anyone more proud to be from the USA than Bruce Springsteen. Outside of the modern clichés that people use for the country, like apple pie, the bald eagle and the at-times insufferable attitude of Yankees attitude, the silhouette of Springsteen with a Fender Telecaster in his hand onstage with the E Street Band is probably just as indicative to Americans of what the American dream stands for. Springsteen is definitely proud of his status as an American success story, but he wasn’t afraid to speak his mind on ‘Born in the USA’.
At first glance, this looks like the kind of love letter to the country that Springsteen has always been a symbol for. Half of his songs are about people in the heart of America trying to make an honest living, so a big album with the American flag boasted on the cover should technically be a slam dunk, but that’s not exactly what fans were given.
Throughout Born in the USA, there are still pieces defined by the same tortured spirit that was found in albums like Nebraska from a few years prior. There may be a new sonic sheen behind most of the record, but Springsteen is just as scared about the state of the nation as he was when working on Born to Run.
In fact, this project might be the inverse of his breakthrough album. As opposed to the sounds of his triumph over his nowhere town on ‘Born to Run’, ‘Born in the USA’ is the kind of song that’s deceptively upbeat. Sure, the synthesisers are pounding away, and Springsteen’s bulletproof chorus seems tailor-made for barbecues on July 4th, but he’s actually talking about how America is corrupt.
Make no mistake, this track still seethes with anger about the way the US treated a lot of Vietnam War veterans. Singing from the perspective of someone who had to sing things no one should have had to see, Springsteen seems genuinely hurt by the American government for tossing these clueless men and women back into their normal lives after experiencing hell on Earth with no way to cope with their problems.
The rest of the album doesn’t get that much better, either. On songs like ‘Downbound Train’ and ‘Bobby Jean’, a lot of Springsteen’s tracks involve people either stuck in their meaningless lives or trying to find some sort of escape to cope with the fact that they never realised the dreams that they really wanted.
Even when the tunes are upbeat, they’re not exactly optimistic. ‘Glory Days’ is the epitome of dad rock to most people, but it seems like just a comedic take on those who never progressed past high school and just want to relive those glory days all over again. It’s easy to laugh at that, but the only reason a lot of people are laughing is to keep themselves from crying at their situation.
While there are some decent love songs and heartfelt tunes on the record, they aren’t necessarily happy. ‘I’m On Fire’ is the kind of piece that feels a little bit sleazy, but Springsteen delivers it with the same cadence of a man at the end of his rope, just looking for some kind of action from his lady so he can feel something again.
That hasn’t stopped a lot of people from continuing to misinterpret every last bit of that title track, though. In recent years, the Fox News brand of American usually tends to take the opposite approach whenever it comes to Springsteen, thinking that he’s a cultural force for ‘rah-rah’ style American values. And as a lot more people are still dealing with their own mental struggles, it would do those on the right side of the political spectrum some good to take cues from what Springsteen is actually saying.
Rather than try to please one’s own agenda, Springsteen says in this song that this version of America is completely backwards from what we’re supposed to be doing. It’s not by accident that we are introduced to the American flag on the cover behind Springsteen’s ass as if he’s telling everyone that there’s a lot of shit in the way of what the real American symbol should be.
Then again, that hasn’t stopped people none the wiser trying to use it as an endorsement for right-wing politicians, with Donald Trump even adopting pieces of it when he started his presidential campaign. For all of the people who get it wrong, it’s even funnier when some of them actually start to pick up on it.
Take a song like ‘Am I The Only One’ by Staind frontman and human ogre Aaron Lewis. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to be outspoken about political beliefs, but the fact that he waits on a dramatic pause after making reference to Springsteen’s critique of America is far less impactful than what he leads on.
It’s no secret that Springsteen has been outspoken about where he falls on the political spectrum, but even the far-right stripe of music fans can’t take that away from ‘Born in the USA’, either as a song or as an album. They can try all they want to discount the piece as a modern replacement for the national anthem, but anyone who bothers to listen past the chorus knows what they’re really getting into.
That hasn’t stopped Springsteen’s little song from being one of the best ambassadors and condemnations for what America is supposed to be. The US, both then and now, tends to be a little bit messy and sees people take things in several different ways, but even if you’re on the right or left side of the political aisle, if you’re the one who has a problem with Springsteen, the problem is you.
