Born Where?

Many revelations on my trip from Pasadena, CA to Santa Fe, NM. But first I have to get this out of my system: “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen is NOT the appropriate song to play when the U.S. wins at the Olympics. Why? Why? God damnit listen to the lyrics. We begin with

Born down in a dead man’s town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much
‘Til you spend half your life just covering up

Hmm, let’s see: ending up like a tortured dog, lying to cover up? What an image to make me proud of being an American.

I got in a little hometown jam
And so they put a rifle in my hands
Sent me off to Vietnam
To go and kill the yellow man

The poor and destitute make great soldiers. Very uplifting, let me tell you.

I had a buddy at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They’re still there, he’s all gone
He had a little girl in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms

What a beautiful way to raise our hearts at the Olympics: let’s talk about a good friend who died in Vietnam and the picture you carry around of him and the girl he fathered in Saigon.

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I’m ten years down the road
Nowhere to run, ain’t got nowhere to go

And now back to slaving away at that job in a refinery, with no where to go. Ain’t this the kind of stuff that fits the pride and patriotism Olympians want to project.
On the other hand, Bruce’s song does rock and is spot on in its characterization of (rural) America. I guess what tweaks my twissle is that the song is clearly played with the concept of “hey ain’t it great to be an American” when really the song is about the opposite. So, in some ways, this song is very subversive. That’s what I think when I’m thinking optimistically. When I’m not in such bliss, I think about how subversive only works if there is a brain to subvert. And another strip and stripes bedazzled fan singing the song without hearing the words is going to make me go bongo.