Tuesday, October 28, 2008

About Springsteen's Born in the USA

To be honest, I was never a Bruce Springsteen fan. I do remember hearing the song Born in the USA quite a bit when I was growing up. It was one of those catchy tunes that came on the radio all the time. Since I started my English 111 class, we've studied the lyrics to it. And to my surprise, the song was about something quite the opposite. I neglected to pay attention to the words, as I do with the majority of music that I listen to. Anyhow, I'm still not a Bruce Springsteen fan to this very day. But Id like to shed light a little light on what he's trying to point out.
His song repeatedly talks about the CHARACTER being born in the USA so I assumed that Bruce was being very patriotic, of course I was dead wrong. He makes it a point that the CHARACTER in the song, went to war and returned to his hometown and became a nobody. What a homecoming! And I guess he was pretty upset about it because he (character) was born in the USA. His brother (character) meets a nice women while in Vietnam. While serving his country, he tragically loses his life. Unfortunately, the only thing his wife has to remember him by is a picture that was given to her. I could say more but its just to depressing.
Studying the lyrics at class has really taught me a lesson. Be careful of what you listen to because you don't know what your programming in your head. And also, the next time your listening to your favorite tune, take time to hear the words because it might actually tell a story that might impact your life. It is abundantly clear that Bruce has some anger issues about war because he didnt even want PALIN to play his music during her running for office (v.president). I think he needs counseling for his very non-american and aggressive approach.