Born In The USA...

Does bring born in the USA really mean being born free? Well... Bruce Springsteen does not completely agree. The song begins with insights of what it is like to live in America; "a dead man's town". So many people live in poverty and get their hopes up and end up being knocked down everyday in search of a better life for themselves. Not everything just gets handed to you, you had to strive for what you want to achieve. People really do not have the stereotypical "American Dream" lifestyle.

It was not all fun and games being drafted to the Vietnam war. In the middle of the song, Springsteen explains what it was like being in combat and the emotional took it takes on a person when they come home. As you can assume, many young men had to leave their family and friends in times of war. Killing, cruelty, and survival skills were all these men knew. When they got back, living with PTSD  (sometimes) and going to the VA were major occurrences.

He states that he lost a friend in Khe Sahn, which of course was hard to take. The friend had a woman who he was in love with, but can now never fulfill her dreams in terms of a relationship now that he is gone. In addition to these horrible situations, many of these men and women were not able to get jobs once they came back from Vietnam.

After analyzing these lyrics, I'm shocked at the meaning of the whole song. To me, his whole theme was almost "everything is not as it seems". Just because you live in the Land Of The Free, does not mean that everything is now easy and accessible.