naturalplastic wrote:
cyberdad wrote:
Not sure what Springsteen's thinking was at the time, but the song never struck me as "anti-war". Australian rockband "Cold Chisel" did a similar song using the memoirs of a Vietnam Vet, song was called "Khe San". Aussies still sing the words at parties after a few drinks (It's one of those unofficial Aussie anthems). the song itself would never get released in 2024 because, well...caution to anyone under 18 reading this
https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/73954/Dont know if you're being honestly deaf, or willfully deaf to the lyrics, but the Springsteen song is obviously a dark social critiique of America in general (including the war). Dont see how anyone but a GOP politician could miss that.
In 1984 I was not that heavily invested in lyrics so much as music. For me it was how the song sounded and the chorus was all that meant anything to me. the song came across to my perception as "patriotic" as my perception of Americans (based on my parent's best friends) was they were patriotic. But I also figured the song was about the Vietnam war as well, so I figured (in my mind at least) the song was about a dude's experiences in Vietnam so came across as autobiographical. It's only much later (20-30yrs) that I figured what the song was about.
I remember somebody I knew illegally copied a tape of "Born in the USA" and apart from the one song he hated the rest of the album. Should emphasise Australians in the 80s didn't really get a lot of Springsteen's cultural references.
26 Sep 2024, 12:31 pm
