"Born In The U.S.A." lyrics

"Born In The U.S.A."

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 coverin' 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
I was born in the U.S.A
I was born in the U.S.A
I was born in the U.S.A

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says, "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 Sanh
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. now
Born in the U.S.A
I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A. now
Born in the U.S.A
Born in the U.S.A
Born in the U.S.A
I'm a cool rockin' Daddy in the U.S.A. now


Thanks to Daniel Vannoy, Jackson Wolfire for correcting these lyrics.
Writer(s): Bruce Springsteen
The working title of this song was 'Vietnam'. Under the title 'Born In The U.S.A.', the song was first recorded for inclusion on the album 'Nebraska' in 1982 and that version was downbeat contrary to the upbeat one which later became part of the eponymous album in 1984.
According to Bruce Springsteen's words in the book 'Bruce Springsteen, Cultural Studies, and the Runaway American Dream', this song is "about a working-class man in the midst of a spiritual crisis, in which man is left lost… It's like he has nothing left to tie him into society anymore. He's isolated from the government. Isolated from his family…to the point where nothing makes sense."
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