Born in the USA (song)

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Born in the USA
Bruce Springsteen
publication June 4, 1984 (album)
October 30, 1984 (single)
length 4:38
Genre (s) skirt
Author (s) Bruce Springsteen
Producer (s) Jon Landau , Chuck Plotkin , Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt
Label Columbia Records
album Born in the USA
Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Singles
Born in the USA
  AT 13 04/01/1985 (20 weeks)
  UK 5 06/11/1985 (10 weeks)
  US 9 11/10/1984 (17 weeks)

Born in the USA is a song by Bruce Springsteen from the year 1984 . It was written by himself and produced with Steven Van Zandt , Jon Landau and Chuck Plotkin. The song reached the top ten in the United States and number one in Ireland and New Zealand . It is one of the most-played songs in Springsteen's concerts, for example on the Born in the USA Tour , the Bruce Springsteen and the "Other Band" Tour and The Rising Tour . It consists of only two harmonies and uses the same melody for verses and chorus .

history

In 1981 the US director Paul Schrader , who had written a script with the working title Born in the USA , asked Springsteen if he would like to contribute the theme song. Springsteen composed a corresponding song, which he initially called Vietnam , but liked it so much that he used it himself for his new studio album , giving the song the original working title of the film. The song was released on June 4, 1984 on the album of the same name Born in the USA and on October 30, 1984 as a single. When Schrader's script was finally filmed in 1987 under the title Light of Day (starring Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett ), Springsteen wrote the title song of the same name as compensation.

In the song, Springsteen distanced himself from the Vietnam War and the behavior of the then government of the USA, especially with regard to dealing with the Vietnam veterans :

"Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years down the road
Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go"

Whether down in the shadow of the prison,
or outside by the gas fires of the refinery '
Ten years have passed for me.
No place to go to. Not a place to go

The music project 1,000 Days, 1,000 Songs published the title on its website in March 2017 as a protest against the policies of US President Donald Trump .

action

Born in the USA is about a Vietnam - veterans . Born in a desolate provincial town in the Midwest (“Dead man's town”) and symbolically kicked from birth (“the first kick I took was when I hit the ground”), it grows with its head constantly drawn in (“you spend half your life just covering up "). The only chance for a reputation was the engagement as a soldier in the Vietnam war. When he returned years later, society distanced itself from him and made it impossible to reconnect with his old life (“Come back home to the refinery, hiring man said 'son if it was up to me'”) ten years (“I'm ten years down the road”) with his memories and the present with no perspective (“nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go”) alone.

Music video

The music video was directed by John Sayles . Bruce Springsteen is giving a concert in the video, with interim scenes. In the intermediate scenes you can see scenes from private film recordings, such as a child's birthday and a wedding, Vietnamese soldiers, cemeteries and recordings from the United States , for example scenes of ordinary workers. At the end of the clip, Springsteen is standing in front of the flag of the USA , similar to the motif on the album cover. The poor synchronization is noticeable in the video . The music video was viewed over 46 million times on YouTube (as of July 2020).

Cover versions

Individual evidence

  1. Sources for chart placements: AT , accessed on January 1, 2010.
  2. Born in the USA (song) in the Official UK Charts (English)
  3. a b "He's not a crybaby" - Bruce Springsteen and his classic "Born In The USA" , rollingstone.de
  4. ^ WELT: "Born in The USA" In: DIE WELT . January 19, 2012 ( welt.de [accessed November 16, 2018]).
  5. 1,000 Days, 1,000 Songs. Dave Eggers & Jordan Kurland, accessed March 28, 2017 .
  6. Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA , songtexte.de
  7. Official music video on YouTube

literature

  • Michael Behrendt: I Don't Like Mondays. The 66 biggest song misunderstandings. Darmstadt 2017. pp. 21–24.

Web links