Bruce Springsteen--An American Icon

Bruce Springsteen—An American Icon

            Bruce Springsteen is a singer-songwriter from New Jersey who first became active in the music scene in 1964 and is continuing to make music today. His lyrics tell a poetic story and his performances are known to hype up a crowd, but the meaning behind is songs may not be something to cheer about. 

            For years I have listened to Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” and sung along to the what I thought to be patriotic song. After analyzing the lyrics more closely I was shocked by the story told in the lyrics. He talks about the reality of growing up in the United States, specifically about how soldiers were treated when they came home from Vietnam.  Bruce Springsteen begins the song by mentioning how “The first kick I took was when I hit the ground/ End up like a dog that's been beat too much/ Till you spend half your life just covering up”. This verse is showing how growing up with difficult and how he was often beaten down either figuratively or literally until he was drafted. The song then changed course to when he came back from the Vietnam War and his treatment in the United States at that time. He mentions how he could not find a job and ended up in jail. Springsteen often brought up real situations in his lyrics, but they rarely go noticed because of the way he performs.