'Born in the U.S.A.' at 40

40 years burnin' down the road with Bruce Springsteen's America in all its messy, complicated glory.

Photo: Annie Leibovitz

Originally published elsewhere on June 4, 2019. Revised (and remastered) June 4, 2024.

I was thirteen when Born In The U.S.A. was unleashed upon the world on June 4th, 1984. Though I'd turn fourteen in November of that year, I was already a major music nerd and had been for several years. I was familiar with Springsteen thanks to the local rock station in North Carolina, WQDR, to which I remained glued whenever I wasn’t in school. 

That was a big summer for this music nerd, as I won a 1981 Rolling Stones tour poster on Alan Handelman's East Coast Live show (which propelled me into a three-decade radio career, damn it all) for correctly guessing the artist singing "Mr. Bassman" (it was Johnny Cymbal - still have the 45); I spent the spring and summer taping hours of 'QDR programming including their fifteenth anniversary Woodstock tribute weekend and other shenanigans; and I bought the Born In The U.S.A. record (yes, we called them records back then - no one called them vinyls, for Pete's sake).

You could’ve easily called me a fan of Springsteen’s before U.S.A. I'd heard Born To Run; I loved what I'd heard of The River ("Hungry Heart," "Cadillac Ranch"); 'QDR played "Rosalita," "Spirit in the Night" (which I'd first thought was Van Morrison), and "Badlands;" so I considered him a pretty hepcat by the time the then-still-new MTV first aired "Dancing in the Dark."

At first, I wondered, What the hell is this synth-driven insistent 4/4 silliness?  What was this awkward dancing? It sounded like The Boss had sold out (the most egregious of sins back then).  The savior of rock and roll was catering to the MTV crowd and was using trendy production tricks to boot. Still, it was mighty infectious and about a month later, I bought the record anyway. It was my first Springsteen purchase.

Listening to the album from start to finish - all twelve songs - was an experience.  Of course, some songs hit me right off while others took a while - some years - to grab me (like "Cover Me" - why did I not like that at the time?).  Born In The U.S.A. was the first time I listened closely to Springsteen's lyrics, and they were revelatory. Absorbing the title track with friends back then, we discovered it wasn't jingoism by any stretch - it was an indictment of the war machine and the mistreatment of our veterans by our own government. “Born in the U.S.A.” was my first explicit taste of a song being fully ironic with its presentation.  Teenage. Mind. Blown.

The title track kicked off a movement that lasted for the next few years. Vietnam veterans became the Cause Du Jour. Americans overcorrected and went from spitting on and ignoring soldiers returning from a war that many of them were drafted to fight, to idolizing them in song and film. Rock and country songs centered them, and movies from Platoon to Full Metal Jacket broadly told their stories while Chuck Norris and Sylvester Stallone returned to Vietnam to bring home our P.O.W.s

Born In The U.S.A. was overall a celebration of America - the good, the bad, the resilient, the determined. From working-class Joes and Janes living day-to-day to the relationships that shape our lives and the nostalgia that clouds our memories.

Tracks like "No Surrender" and "Bobby Jean" spoke to this teenage romantic longing for a relationship like the ones Bruce sang about. I didn't have a Bobby Jean, but I imagined that's exactly how I would react if she moved away.  I loved how he wished her good luck but didn't beg her to come back.  That's a mature outlook I desperately needed to hear, while the Big Man’s sax articulated the feelings I couldn’t express.

I didn't pick up Nebraska until a couple of years later - around sixteen or seventeen, the perfect drama-filled age to hear such desolate work - but looking back, "Downbound Train" was the definite spillover from those sessions. Much of Born In The U.S.A. has a strong, anthemic sheen even when the lyrics reveal dark undercurrents. Yet "Downbound Train" follows the Nebraska model musically as well as lyrically, although in an electric setting. 

Springsteen's love of rock'n'roll fuels the neo-rockabilly of “Working on the Highway” and the ‘60s garage rock of both “I'm Goin' Down," and "Glory Days," while "Darlington County" is probably the most Springsteenish song Springsteen ever recorded, bordering on self-parody. It's got Clarence's sax riding a Boss-centric riff, a cowbell, and lyrics that are celebratory, ambiguous, and tragic. Where did Wayne go and what did he get up to? He must’ve met a guy and did a little favor for him. Either way, it didn’t turn out well.

Same with “Working on the Highway”. What starts as a celebration of a working man ends up, again, with the narrator getting caught on the wrong side of that winners/losers line. Bruce’s characters wound up in front of the judge a lot in the early to mid ‘80s.

Elsewhere, "I'm On Fire" is as sexy as Springsteen got (with his hit for the Pointer Sisters, "Fire," a close second), while "My Hometown" didn't bring tears to my eyes until I became a father and I raised my son…in my hometown.

Now 40 years on, Born In The U.S.A. stands as a towering achievement for pop music in general, the '80s in particular, and Springsteen's oeuvre specifically. It deserves its 30x platinum status. It belongs in the top tier of that decade’s landmark blockbusters like Purple Rain, Like A Virgin, and Private Dancer - all of which were released in 1984 alone. It may have a few '80s production trappings, but the spirit, performances, and lyrics far exceed any of its shortcomings, making it a timeless statement that transcends its time.

As for "Dancing in the Dark," looking back as a working adult, I think it's a masterpiece.  And it is.

So let’s raise a glass to those glory days and how they will indeed pass you by, “speedball” and all.

For more BitUSA fun, check out Steven Hyden’s new exploration of the album and the decade that surrounded it, here.

The new book by Steven Hyden on top of the copy of BitUSA I bought the summer of ‘84.

More of me on Springsteen:

Human Touch / Lucky Town for The Mixtape

Only the Strong Survive review for PopMatters

Letter To You review for No Depression

Western Stars review for Americana UK