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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
Until you spend half your life just covering up
Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man
Born in the U.S.A. . . .
Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said, "Son if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said, "Son, don't you understand"
I had a brother at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now
Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go
Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I'm a long gone daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I'm a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A.
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
Until you spend half your life just covering up
Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man
Born in the U.S.A. . . .
Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said, "Son if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said, "Son, don't you understand"
I had a brother at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now
Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go
Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I'm a long gone daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., I'm a cool rocking daddy in the U.S.A.
Lyrics submitted by oofus
Track duration: 04:39
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This particular American man knows that his is a life of little hope and scant reward (You end up like a dog that's been beat too much, Until you spend half your life just covering up).
Then, when this American meets with some kind of trouble (hometown jam), he is between a rock and hard place, there aren't many options open to him, so he opts to be drafted in the Vietnam War (so they put a rifle in my hand, To go and kill the yellow man).
I think it's pretty clear that this American is in a situation not of his own making and has become a soldier to fight and kill in Vietnam due to the state of his life and situation in his home land. He was "Born in the USA" which on the surface seems something to be proud of, yet, his situation leads him to be sent to the Vietnam War. His life is certainly not ideal and clearly not one of his own choosing.
Then, when this soldier returns from the war, instead of being treated like a brave hero who fought for his country, he is scorned by society. The very people who should be helping him are too afraid to go against overriding social beliefs to provide him with work and veterans' support (Hiring man said "Son, if it was up to me", VA man said "Son, don't you understand). These lines also highlight the word "Son" and I think that shows that the average soldier was young, a mere boy, and that upon his return he should have been cared for by his country like a parent would care for their child.
He talks of either his family or friends who fought in the War (Had a brother at Khe Sanh, Fighting off the Viet Cong) and how his brother died (Their still there, He's all gone.) I think this points to the overall futility of the war and the high price paid by many soldiers who lost their lives. Also, the life-long tragedies, heartbreak and displacement it caused to both US and Vietnam citizens (He had a woman he loved in Saigon, Got a picture of him in her arms now).
And now this vet is back in the USA living his life, however, he is a lost soul. His life is going nowhere and he doesn't have a good job or much to look forward to (Out in the shadow of the penitentiary, Out by the gas fires of the refinery). Ten years after the war and he hasn't settled down (Ten years burning down the road) and doesn't have a happy home or family (Nowhere to run, Ain't got nowhere to go).
This sad lament for a soldier is all based on him being "Born in the USA". I think the undertone of the song is that his country (which prides itself on being a rich and free nation full of opportunities) let him down. His life experience is ironic seeing that he was born into this land of pride and promise.
I think the chorus is like a statement of being proud to be born in the USA, yet the same statement is sadly ironic considering how the USA has treated it's "son" so poorly.
Then the last verse gives hope to the whole song. The vet proclaims in what seems like an attempt at hope and self-preservation that he's a "cool rockin' daddy in the USA". Maybe his country treated him badly, but he still has pride in himself and will continue to live his life.
Bruce's songs often have hope and faith interlaced in the bleakest of situations. This is very evident in this song. In a funny kind of way, maybe its this hopefulness in the spirit of the USA that is the reason the Vietnam Vet still holds on to a sense of pride that he was"Born in the USA".
A view years later I heard that 50% of the native american people dosent understand the meaning of this song. I was shocked that Mr. Reagan , the american president at this time, dosent unterstand the meaning either. A man, that handles with atomic bombs, dosent understand a simple folk song text.
The song is up-to-date now a days. With all the wars in the world, this song could be made today. But he is almost 30 years old. This makes me very sad.
But yes, the fact that Ronald Reagan's plans regarding this song were very surprising. At any rate, I haven't too many songs with lyrics this moving and a chorus so ironic.
Very poinant and resonates with those around the globe who have faced horrors on a foreign shore only to face those horrors once again on friendly shores....
He's talking about the country that he was born into, raised in, touted as the greatest in the world. He's talking about it in context to the Vietnam War. The character in the song has a brother and a lover of his brother, both whom are killed during this meaningless conflict. The lines "Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go"
show that these vets are living dead-end lives with little or no positive change in their future. Even the line where he talks about the woman and his brother "They're long gone" shows that some peopel really didn't pay any attention to the people returning from Vietnam.
He then expresses how we then have a country turned upside down to where the very country they were there to protect mistreated them no different than if we were foreigners from another country. The kind of crap that was thrown at them emotionally, physically, mental trauma and images they will never forget, "on top of" the crap they got from the very people you would expect a "heroes welcome" instead get the exact opposite, and they pretty much get their lives down the tubes because they protested the war to the point where they would not even hire a vet, because they fought in that war, that was not of their making.
So the song shows the lack of appreciation and mistreatment of those who sacrificed everything to only be mistreated and scorned for serving the very country they were born in. The United States of America.
Hence, "Born in the USA" the very country that bore them and once supported them, turned their backs on them for no reason other than protest against a war not of their choosing.
It is a song of both history, pain, and sorrow for the lack of respect the soldiers who sacrificed for our country only to be screwed over by there fellow man.
The last half of the song is almost like a plea for the weary and mistreated and degraded soldiers to get the respect and the honor they earned fighting for our country, but rather than a hero's welcome they were spit on, called baby killers, and the respect that they deserved was not given because there was such mixed emotions on that war.
You can hear it in the tone of his voice that he is disheartened with the mistreatment and the cruelty towards Vietnam vets that came home from another man's war, only to fight their own personal war with the mass persecution of them.
Comes back and finds that the country he left had completely changed and the attitude and the respect that was and still is deserved by our service men was taken for granted, and the song is basically like standing up for those vets and all those that were mistreated and made to believe that they were over there and they died for nothing and that it was wrong of our nation to be so turned against our own servicemen.
There is a lot of heart felt emotion within this song, some pain for the mistreatment of the soldiers that deserved better and still do, and in part the sadness of what our country became out of the Vietnam war, we never asked to be sent over there but we got mistreated all the same for a war that was not of our making.
Yet as a result of that war came a lot of hatred and unappreciated heroes, and he saw that they were fighting war at home and within their own selves whether emotionally, physical challenges, whatever that case was with all the vets that returned home they deserved better and he knew it!
The last half of the song is almost like a plea for the weary and mistreated and degraded soldiers to get the respect and the honor they earned fighting for our country, but rather than a hero's welcome they were spit on, called baby killers, and the respect that they deserved was not given because there was such mixed emotions on that war.
You can hear it in the tone of his voice that he is disheartened with the mistreatment and the cruelty towards Vietnam vets that came home from another man's war, only to fight their own personal war with the mass persecution of them.
Comes back and finds that the country he left had completely changed and the attitude and the respect that was and still is deserved by our service men was taken for granted, and the song is basically like standing up for those vets and all those that were mistreated and made to believe that they were over there and they died for nothing and that it was wrong of our nation to be so turned against our own servicemen.
There is a lot of heart felt emotion within this song, some pain for the mistreatment of the soldiers that deserved better and still do, and in part the sadness of what our country became out of the Vietnam war, we never asked to be sent over there but we got mistreated all the same for a war that was not of our making.
Yet as a result of that war came a lot of hatred and unappreciated heroes, and he saw that they were fighting war at home and within their own selves whether emotionally, physical challenges, whatever that case was with all the vets that returned home they deserved better and he knew it!