When Bruce Springstreen, aka The Boss, wrote “Born In The U.S.A.” as a title track for a film about the Vietnam war – the first war America ever lost – and the stark difference in how it’s veterans were treated to those coming home as winners, he did not anticipate how totally misunderstood the song would be for generations to come.

Springsteen had never shied away from expressing his strong political convictions, standing especially for working-class people but also gender equality, immigrant and LGBTQ rights and environmental issues. So it was a rather strange notion when Ronald Reagan, whose presidency started the downfall of the American middle classes and whose policies The Boss explicitly rejected, used the song to rally his followers, misunderstanding the song for a patriotic anthem instead of the bitter critique it really is. But people would still not get it 35 years later, when the song was heard outside the hospital where then president Trump was treated for Covid-19. While Springsteen considers the song one of his best, it does bother him that it’s so widely misunderstood.

True to his convictions he also turned down an offering of 12 million US$ to let Chrysler use the song in one of their campaigns. Springsteen never allowed any of his songs to be used to sell a product.

As he did not want the video to be lip-synched, he opted instead to use shots from some concerts, and for the sake of synchronity had to wear the same outfit for a number of consecutive shows. Interspersed with pictures from a Vietnamese neighbourhood in Los Angeles and factory workers, it was an effort to claim the song back from Reagan.

Incidentally, the Album was the first CD to be pressed on American soil.