30 Years Ago - Born In The USA

[troutman]

Bruce Springsteen's 'Born In The U.S.A.' at 30: Classic Track-By-Track Album Review

http://www.billboard.com/articles/re...g-album-review

Great record from start to finish.

Well, we bursted out of class
Had to get away from those fools
We learned more from a 3-minute record, baby
Than we ever learned in school
Tonight I hear the neighborhood drummer sound
I can feel my heart begin to pound
You say you're tired and you just want to close your eyes
And follow your dreams down

Chorus:
Well, we made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Like soldiers in the winter's night
With a vow to defend
No retreat, baby, no surrender

Well, now young faces grow sad and old
And hearts of fire grow cold
We swore blood brothers against the wind
Now I'm ready to grow young again
And hear your sister's voice calling us home
Across the open yards
Well maybe we'll cut someplace of own
With these drums and these guitars

'Cause we made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Blood brothers in the stormy night
With a vow to defend
No retreat, baby, no surrender

Now on the street tonight the lights grow dim
The walls of my room are closing in
There's a war outside still raging
You say it ain't ours anymore to win
I want to sleep beneath
Peaceful skies in my lover's bed
With a wide open country in my eyes
And these romantic dreams in my head

Once we made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Blood brothers in a stormy night
With a vow to defend
No retreat, baby, no surrender

[nik-]

One of the most misconstrued songs ever?

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by nik-

One of the most misconstrued songs ever?

Yeah, Reagan used it for his election campaign lol.

[nik-]

Dancing in the Dark is pretty depressing too.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by nik-

One of the most misconstrued songs ever?

I would say that's an apt interpretation. But its a great song, and every guy learns it on the guitar because chicks love it for some reason.

While this was probably Springsteen's most successful album, and probably his greatest commercial success, and its a very strong album with no bad songs. I don't know if it was his best work. I would argue that Born to Run, with the title track Thunder Road and Jungleland making that his hall mark album. As far as the songs on this album, with the exception of Downbound train, which was weak, and dancing in the dark which to me was a song written to be a music video, one of my favorite albums and one of my favorite collections of songs for a long drive at night.

[Igster]

Agreed CC. My fav album is The River which didn't enjoy anywhere near the success this album did. Very much enjoyed most of the tracks on Born though.

[East Coast Flame]

Great album, although probably a little to "pop" Springsteen for my tastes. "I'm on Fire" and "No Surrender" are two of my all time favourite tracks.

I would probably put Darkness and Born to Run ahead of Born in the USA...maybe the River too.

[strombad]

Didn't really get into the Boss until 4 or 5 years ago, and while Born in the USA is my least favourite in that awesome 75-84 stretch, it's still a great album.

For me, Darkness and Nebraska are a toss up.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I would have Born to Run, Nebraska and Darkness on the Edge of Town all ahead of Born in the USA. Still a highly enjoyable album though, and certainly worthy of being one of the best selling albums ever.

[troutman]

I think it was his most consistently good record. Other records had greater highlights, but more filler.

[CaptainCrunch]

I can't think of a bad album by Springsteen up and including Born to Run

Greetings from Ashbury Park - Great Album and very strong for a debut Album, it had a strong bar band feeling to it. Favorite songs Growin up, Its hard to be a saint in the city.

the Wild the innocent and the E Street Shuffle - A very rough hewed Album and a lot of fun, favorite songs, Sandy, Rosalita

Born to Run - He became really polished in this Album and every song is incredibly strong. But Born to Run and Thunder Road stand out because they're just epic songs.

Darkness on the Edge of Town - Way more melancholy and Springsteen really wrapped himself in his blue collar musical approach. Favorite songs, Darkness at the Edge of Town, Adam Raised Cain and Racing in the Street.

The River - A great two Album set stuffed with great songs, overall a very depressing album lyrics wise. Favorite songs, all of them were strong but, Independance Day, Hungary Heart, The River, Cadillac Ranch, Ramrod

Nebraska - Not one of my favorite Albums, it almost had a distinctly old country line to it, and when you were done listening to it you had bruises from the beat down. Favorites, Johnny 99, Nebraska

Born in the USA - Talked about that.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

As far as the songs on this album, with the exception of Downbound train, which was weak, and dancing in the dark which to me was a song written to be a music video, one of my favorite albums and one of my favorite collections of songs for a long drive at night.

I kind of agree with troutman. The highlights on Born in the USA aren't quite as memorable as stuff off of Darkness, The River, etc., but it's definitely the most complete album in that span. There are a couple of filler songs (Working on the Highway, Darlington County).

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I can't think of a bad album by Springsteen up and including Born to Run

Greetings from Ashbury Park - Great Album and very strong for a debut Album, it had a strong bar band feeling to it. Favorite songs Growin up, Its hard to be a saint in the city.

the Wild the innocent and the E Street Shuffle - A very rough hewed Album and a lot of fun, favorite songs, Sandy, Rosalita

Born to Run - He became really polished in this Album and every song is incredibly strong. But Born to Run and Thunder Road stand out because they're just epic songs.

Darkness on the Edge of Town - Way more melancholy and Springsteen really wrapped himself in his blue collar musical approach. Favorite songs, Darkness at the Edge of Town, Adam Raised Cain and Racing in the Street.

The River - A great two Album set stuffed with great songs, overall a very depressing album lyrics wise. Favorite songs, all of them were strong but, Independance Day, Hungary Heart, The River, Cadillac Ranch, Ramrod

Nebraska - Not one of my favorite Albums, it almost had a distinctly old country line to it, and when you were done listening to it you had bruises from the beat down. Favorites, Johnny 99, Nebraska

Born in the USA - Talked about that.

Everyone always forgets about Tunnel of Love but it's a great album as well. Very underrated.

[Coys1882]

Johnny 99 I would say is still one of my fav songs.

[undercoverbrother]

I bought the cassette when it came out.

[CaptainCrunch]

He released a live anthology after Tunnel of love that was a 8 cassette set at the time and pretty much had every song that Springsteen had done recorded live in concerts.

It went from their early stuff which was clearly in a small bar or club right up to the arena stuff for Born in the USA.

the River intro is one of my favorites and shows what kind of a story teller he was. To be honest whenever I heard him telling this story, I would feel the tears coming.



How are you doing out there tonight?
That's good That's good This is uhh….
When I was growing up.
Me and my Dad used to go at it all the time
Over almost anything
I used to have really long hair
Way down past my shoulders
When I was 17 or 18
Oh man he used to hate it
We got to where we would fight so much that I
That I would spent a lot of time outside the house
In the summertime it was not so bad
Cause it was warm and your friends were out
But in the winter
I remember standing downtown and it would get so cold
When the wind would blow I had this phone booth that I used stand in
I used call my girl like for hours at a time
just talking to her all night long
and finally I would get my nerve up to go home
I'd stand there in the driveway
and he would be waiting for me in the kitchen
and I'd tuck my hair down in my collar, and I'd walk in
and he'd call me back to sit down with him
and the first thing that he always asked me was
"What did I think I was doing with myself"?
and the worst part about it was I could never explain it to him
I remember I got in a motorcycle accident once
I was laid up in bed
He had a barber come in and cut my hair
and man, I can remember telling him that I hated him
and that I would never ever forget
He used to tell me I can't wait till the army gets you
When the army gets you they are gonna make a man out of you
They gonna cut all that hair off
And They will make a man out of you
And this was in I guess '68
and there was a lot of guys from the neighborhood going to Vietnam
I remember the drummer in my first band coming over to my house with his marine uniform on
Saying that he was going and that he did not know where it was
And a lot of guys went
And a lot of guys didn't came back
And a lot that came back
Weren't the same anymore
I remember the day I got my draft notice
I hit it from my folks
And three days before my physical me and my friends went out and we stayed up all night
we got on the bus to go that morning man
we were all so scared
And I went, and I failed
I came home
It is nothing to applaud about
I remember coming home after I had been gone for three days
Walkin' in the kitchen and my mother and father were sitting there and my dad said "where you been?"
I said "I went to take my physical"
He said "What happened ?"
I said "They didn't take me"
And He said "That's good"

[troutman]

Some trivia about Born In The USA:

http://blog.thecurrent.org/2014/06/b...alking-points/

[troutman]

10 Amazing Songs Bruce Springsteen Cut From 'Born in the U.S.A.'

For other artists, these tracks would have beeen career highlights, but for Bruce, they were merely outtakes

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/li...u-s-a-20140815

Springsteen had spent more than two years perfecting the record, constantly shifting around the track listing. Nobody knows exactly how many songs were considered during this time, but Max Weinberg has said there were upwards of 80. Some came out as B-sides and others surfaced on box sets, hits compilations and bootlegs. Others remain in the vault and probably won't be heard until the inevitable Born in the U.S.A. deluxe reissue. Here are 10 tracks that didn't make the final 12 but are amazing nonetheless.