Born in the U.S.A

“Born in the U.S.A” is one of rock legend Bruce Springsteen’s most infamous songs, off of the same titled album released in 1984. The track discusses the mistreatment of American soldiers during the Vietnam War and the harmful effects from the event.

The track was originally written in 1981, as the main song for the movie “Light of Day”, which got released in 1987. Casual demos of the song were made throughout the years with Springsteen changing the melody line and musical structure, until he was finally happy with the track. The song urges the US to think about the experiences the Vietnam veterans had to endure both during and after the war.

The music video was released on 28th November 1984, featuring footage of Springsteen singing the track live, with up close footage of his face. The video also shows soldiers fighting and returning from home, as well as images of children crying and graveyards. The official music video was uploaded to Bruce Springsteen’s official YouTube channel in March 2011, and as of April 2019, it has almost 38 million views.

Release Date: 30th October 1984

Songwriter/s: Bruce Springsteen

Producer/s: Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt

Label/s: Columbia

Music Video Release Date: 28th November 1984

Music Video Director: John Sayles

Chart Rankings, Certifications & Accolades: “Born in the U.S.A” whit the charts from Australia to South Africa, hitting the #1 spot in both Ireland and New Zealand in its year of release. It went 2x Platinum in Australia, Gold in the US and Silver in the UK. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song at #275 on their list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, and in 2001 the RIAA’ placed the track at #59 out of a 365 long ”Songs of the Century” list.