Many musicians have said “no” when politicians try using their music for campaigning. But Bruce Springsteen may be the most famous naysayer of all.
In September 1984, Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” was atop the charts, and Ronald Reagan, running for reelection against Walter Mondale, told a New Jersey audience that he and the singer-songwriter shared the same American dream.
Springsteen disagreed.
Three days later, performing in Pittsburgh, Springsteen spoke about his version of that dream.
“In the beginning, the idea was we all live here a little bit like a family where the strong can help the weak ones, the rich can help the poor ones. You know, the American dream,” he said in between songs.
“I don’t think it was that everybody was going to make a billion dollars but that everybody was going to have an opportunity and a chance to live a life with some decency and some dignity.”
June 4, 2024, marks the 40th anniversary of “Born in the U.S.A.,” Springsteen’s top-selling album. In my recent book, “Righting the American Dream: How the Media Mainstreamed Reagan’s Evangelical Vision,” I describe the president’s attempt to use Springsteen’s lyrics to support that vision, which included cutting welfare, boosting the military and ending abortion – all positions dear to the religious right.
Springsteen had a different vision, and Reagan’s attempt to co-opt it spurred the singer to be more explicitly political in his words and actions.
Blinded by the light
The confusion over “Born in the U.S.A.” is easy to understand. Just look at the album’s cover art.
Shot from the rear, Springsteen is facing a huge American flag. The flag’s red and white stripes, along with Springsteen’s white T-shirt, blue jeans and red baseball cap, all telegraph, “America.”
So why a butt shot of the blue-jeaned rocker whose pose screams youth, sex and swagger?
Many musicians have said “no” when politicians try using their music for campaigning. But Bruce Springsteen may be the most famous naysayer of all.
In September 1984, Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” was atop the charts, and Ronald Reagan, running for reelection against Walter Mondale, told a New Jersey audience that he and the singer-songwriter shared the same American dream.
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