Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A: Promoting Historical Content through Music
Music is one of the powerful languages that elicit emotions as a creative way of human communication. It acts as a definition of cultural and class values, political beliefs, and economic life. Therefore, music has some ways of activating our learning that other learning sources cannot. Moreover, artists through their songs, convey messages which are burdened political and activism disapproval and also, emotional themes that are predominant in history. Notably, focusing on Born in the U.SA by Springsteen, the artist validates how examining music can communicate views that are not available in the mass media depiction of historical events and era. Springsteen’s album Born in the U.S.A expresses political views that criticize the government as a form of expressing protection by the First Amendment of the constitution.
From the lyrics, Springsteen in his song explores the working class of people whose lives revolve around infinite hours of labor for little pay. He identifies, three levels of the working class which are the neighborhood, work experience, and the nation’s state which bring a common bond between all Americans. According to Jefferson and Lauren, these individuals who go through tough labor and scarce pay are those that are willing to make an honest living by sticking to their blue-collar jobs. This is illustrated in the lyrics part “You end up like a dog that’s been beaten too much Till you spend half your life just covering up” Despite going through these hardship conditions, the characters are willing to stay and face their miserable lives as depicted in The River song (Springsteen, 1984). The songs demonstrate the gap that existed between the working class in the 1980s. This is due to the existence of power and conflict over materials that existed then.
Springsteen in his song illustrates that working-class identity contributed to patriotism and racism in the 1980s. He illustrates that the reality of working in the 1970s was increasing as a result of, multiethnic and multiracial of any neutral degree. In his chorus “I was born in the U.S.A” illustrates the cries of the individuals born in the U.S.A as insignificant because the nations had abandoned individuals that served it. The working-class identity affected the people of color, while the whites still achieved citizenship in a form of cultural unity. Racism was highly displayed and also those who were patriotic to their country continued to suffer. For instance, the heartbreaking story of the Vietnam vet in the lyrics (Jefferson and Lauren, 2006). Therefore, from the song, it is evident that Springsteen addresses racism and the kind of patriotism that existed in the United States during the 19th century. Those who are patriotic to their country suffered more and lastly, the whites people had more privileges in the working industry as compared to the colored people.
Additionally, from the music, Bruce has been identified as a working-class hero, meaning he is portrayed as a powerful figure which gives voice to the powerless individuals in the community (Jefferson and Lauren, 2006). He is an icon to the blue-collar job in America. This is demonstrated in the part of the lyrics that state “Born in the U.S.A, come back home to the refinery, hiring man says “Son if it was up to me”. That is why through his music Born in the U.S.A and Dancing in the Dark, he supports the poor and working-class people to challenge the United States oppressive system that supported social injustices. Bruce having experience living in a working-class family as a child, he recognizes that the same issue is prevalent across America. That is why through his music he tries to eradicate it since it is the main issue that causes unemployment even in the contemporary world. Altogether, Bruce uses inspiration from the memories of his past life to bring public attention to social issues that affect the working class individuals in the United States.
Bruce Springsteen also addresses political ideologies through the illustration of the Vietnam war. The album was produced eight years after the end of the Vietnam war, hence, the song reveals the emotional scars of Vietnam. He expresses this using the story of a man who fought in the war to express political meaning. Part of the lyrics that illustrates that is as follows “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” This part of the song illustrates how the veteran man was hurt and angry and also willing to sacrifice his life for his country. Instead, when he came back to his country, he was disrespected by the government and the media, for they did not feel proud of him anymore (Heafner et al. 2014). This why Bruce, in his album addresses the issue of how the government and the media used individuals in the war only to disregard them when they came back home. From the above point, Bruce wanted the public to realize that even though the United States did not win the war, they needed to grieve their Vietnam Vets and not just to treat them as heroes.
According to Heafner et al. (2014), Bruce also addresses the misinterpretation and understanding of his songs. “It’s not that people aren’t taught to think, but that they’re not taught to think hard enough. Born in the USA is not ambiguous. All you got to do is listen to the verses.” (Springsteen, 1984). The song Born in the U.S.A has been one of the most misinterpreted songs and Bruce wants people to understand the message, that is the connotation behind the music. The misinterpretation became a main issue of concern when Bruce released his pop hit song. Bruce demonstrated that to understand pop music, one has to invest time and effort in the music and words. Therefore, his concern is that listeners should make a case of analyzing the lyrics through close reading and listening.
The historical context of the Born U.S.A song
The album was released during the summer period in 1984 when patriotism and political implications were the main issues of concern. President Reagan had engaged in his reelection proposition against Walter Mondale and also the United States was arranging to host Olympics games in Los Angeles. Therefore, the public was waiting to see whether the elected president Reagan would pull the country out of the economic depression that it had emerged in. According to Jefferson and Lauren (2006), approximately 8 million were unemployed due to the hard economic crisis that had hit the construction, mining, and manufacturing industries. Despite all this, the government was still slow in eradicating these burdens on people. Due to the rise in unemployment, many citizens viewed the president as being ignorant of the economic crisis that was facing the country. Therefore, Bruce Springsteen was among the people that decided to address the issues facing the countries.
Consequently, in his song, he addressed the poor working-class individuals that perceived patriotism to their country. He addresses about unemployment crisis and how the country had failed to take care of its people (Jefferson and Lauren,2006). The song was a success and it sold a million albums. This is to illustrate that the song was released at the right time, just when the citizens needed to hear the message. The workers were facing miserable conditions and the country’s economy was collapsing yet there was no one to address the public.
Springsteen Cultural influences of pop music
Springsteen in his interviews he mentions various books that influenced his songwriting skills and the views about America (Heafner et al. 2014). He mentioned a book A people’s history of the United States by Zinn, published in 1980. He mentions the book as one of his influences, since, it talks about traditional American history and also how the government oppressed the citizens in the traditional context. Additionally, Bruce mentions a book by Wood Guthrie called A Life and how it had a significant impact on his career. Wood and Bruce both suffered misinterpretation in their songs This Land is Your Land and Born in the U.S.A respectively (Heafner et al. 2014). Also, they both had difficulties in their early lives and advocated for the common man. Therefore, it is evident that Bruce Springsteen drew his inspirations from reading other authors’ books. In summary, such influences and, motivations make the thinking of an artist open-minded and impactful.
Bruce uses an energetic tone in his song while addressing the issues facing the minority people in the United States. He addresses the issues in the Vietnam war and social issues that affected the working class individuals (Springsteen, 1984). He uses a patriotic tone in addressing the inhumanity in war and the displeasures of the United States in the Vietnam war. Additionally, the music expresses a political tone where Bruce demonstrates about class identity, union and families, machines that bind an individual to community way of life, dust and coal and steel and rust. Therefore, we see his tone changing according to the kind of message he addresses.
In conclusion, the theme of struggling for working-class Americans is displayed throughout the songs. He highlights the failures of the American dream through the injustices that the working class individuals faced. Also, he talks about the dictatorship government that existed after the Vietnam war and how it failed to appreciate those who participated in the war. He also calls against the oppression of the men in blue-collar jobs in America and urges individuals to have hope and redemption no matter the situation. To conclude, the demonstration is a sign of factors that led to the failure of American dreams.
Works Cited
Bumpus, Kaylee. “Springsteen’s Oppressed Working Class.” (2017).
Cowie, Jefferson, and Lauren Boehm. “Dead man’s town:” Born in the USA,” social history, and working-class identity.” American Quarterly 58.2 (2006): 353-378.
Heafner, Tina L., Eric Groce, and Alicia Finnell. “Springsteen’s Born in the USA: Promoting Historical Inquiry through Music.” Social Studies Research & Practice (Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama) 9.3 (2014).