The other night I was on a rooftop in the U-District with my friend, and the song Born in the USA came up in conversation. I said that I never liked it, because I couldn't relate to it. Really, I can be a whiny baby sometimes. He responded that the lyrics aren't really what you'd expect, and looked them up on his phone.
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
Till 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.
I was 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.
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 now"
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 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.
I just never understood what Springsteen was saying...:P
On NPR the other day, they did a show just about the song "This Land is Your Land." About the seldom-sung lyrics. When Obama called Springsteen up and asked him to sing it at his Inauguration, Springsteen said yes, if he could sing it with Pete Seeger. Obama was like, k cool. Springsteen called up Seeger and asked him to sing it with him, and Pete said yes, under one condition...they sing all the words. Bruce said he wouldn't do it any other way. That really sparked my curiosity....
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
Till 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.
I was 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.
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 now"
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 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.
I just never understood what Springsteen was saying...:P
On NPR the other day, they did a show just about the song "This Land is Your Land." About the seldom-sung lyrics. When Obama called Springsteen up and asked him to sing it at his Inauguration, Springsteen said yes, if he could sing it with Pete Seeger. Obama was like, k cool. Springsteen called up Seeger and asked him to sing it with him, and Pete said yes, under one condition...they sing all the words. Bruce said he wouldn't do it any other way. That really sparked my curiosity....
As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
I saw below me that golden valley
This land was made for you and me.
I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
While all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me.
In the squares of the city, in the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I'd seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?
A great high wall there had tried to stop me
A great big sign there said private property
On the other side, it didn't say nothin
That side was made for you and me
Nobody living can ever stop me
As I got walking on freedom's highway
Nobody living can make me turn back
This land was made for you and me
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York islands
From the Redwood forests to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me
