40 Years of Born in the USA | Twelve Shades of America and Bruce Springsteen

“It’s rare that an artist’s seventh album is their most popular,” observes Steven Hyden, and yet this is the case with Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen, released on June 4, 1984, of which 7 of the 12 songs appeared on the top 100 from Billboard. After writing about Radiohead, Pearl Jam and rock rivalries, the American journalist recently published There Was Nothing You Could Doan essay on the social, political and cultural impact of the record in which, even if you have listened to it thousands of times, you will suddenly hear new things.

Born in the USA is a textbook case of a song that some, including Ronald Reagan, have tried to make say what it does not say. You speak in your book of a void (” a void ») left by Springsteen in his songs. Did he open the door to the possibility of being misinterpreted?

I don’t think he deliberately wanted people to misinterpret his songs, but I think the title track offers a complex and nuanced look at the American experience, one that isn’t entirely negative. It’s not a patriotic song by any means, but at the same time, it’s an uplifting, anthem-worthy piece of music.

The song features the voice of a Vietnam veteran who talks about how his country abandoned him, but he doesn’t say he wants to leave the United States, he says he was born in the United States, that he’s part of this nation, that he can’t be ignored. He’s expressing a resistance, a kind of strange pride. He’s claiming his citizenship.

The right wing has tried to put this song in a box, but it’s not a stupidly pro-American song or a downbeat song. There’s something uplifting and poignant about it, and that’s why I wanted to write on this album, where the lyrics often go one way, while the music goes another. I’ve always thought it makes a song richer if, when you first listen to it, you don’t know exactly what it means.

You recall in the book that Springsteen, in 1984, had not yet taken a political position, at least not from a partisan point of view.

He was clearly on the side of the low-income, working-class people, but his songs were about people. His best songs unfold like movies. The political context is there, but in the background. It’s the subtext, not the text. That’s why you can listen to them again Nebraska [1982] Or Born in the USA 40 years later: these characters still exist in our world.

Bruce Springsteen has been very clear about his political allegiances [démocrates] over the last 25 years and I’m convinced it has to do with the way the song Born in the USA was performed. But it is also in tune with our times, where we expect popular music icons to speak out at every election, like columnists at a major daily newspaper.

I have mixed feelings about the importance of these kinds of statements, because on the one hand, artists are citizens too and have every right to express themselves. On the other hand, it seems excessive to me to blame Taylor Swift’s silence for Trump’s election, which was not uncommon in 2017, whereas in 1984, during an election year, no one expected Springsteen to endorse either candidate.

The album that followed Born in the USAthe most intimate Tunnel of Love (1987), presents a Bruce different from the muscular man of his glory years. Why didn’t Springsteen try to replicate the success of Born in the USA ?

In the book, I compare Springsteen’s trajectory to that of Michael Jackson, who took an opposite approach. After Thriller [1982]he tried to exceed the 70 million copies sold with Bad [1987]an album that was hugely successful, but not as successful as Thrillersimply because it was a foolish goal. One might think that it led to his downfall.

Any success eventually reaches its peak and Bruce has arguably adopted a healthier stance by creating a more introspective, more adult album, by evolving his work.

Springsteen wrote an absurd amount of material for Born in the USAup to 90 songs according to some estimates. How do you explain such productivity?

It has always been his method, since The River [1982]. He always tried to create coherent albums, first and foremost, and therefore to choose songs that go well together. This also explains why other artists have had success with songs that he had set aside. [Because the Night de Patti Smith, Fire des Pointer Sisters].

Some songs came a little later in the recording process, but he could very well have released a great version of Born in the USA as early as 1982. It feels like he was putting off the fateful moment, procrastinating by working very hard. It’s like he knew this album would have this impact and it’s also the only time in his career that he recorded such an overtly pop album.

What would be the contemporary equivalent of Bruce Springsteen?

The music world has certainly changed a lot in 40 years. There are artists who would have been considered rock in the mid-80s who are now considered country or Americana. Zach Bryan comes to mind; he plays arenas and stadiums, Bruce even got on stage with him a few weeks ago.

But for the most part, that kind of rock star is an archetype that has disappeared.

The remarks have been abbreviated and condensed for brevity.

There Was Nothing You Could Do: Born in the USA and the End of the Heartland

Steven Hyden

Hachette Books

272 pages