Listen to the Verses

So, I'm sitting in Rice Eccles Stadium last night following the Real vs. Metro Stars game. I'm watching the 4th of July fireworks and there is music playing in the stadium over the P.A. system. At first, they're just playing crappy pop songs, most of which I don't know the names of. Then, they play Lee Greenwood's "Proud to Be an American". People were actually singing along. Although, I think I heard a fair amount of laughter too. But, then they start playing Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA". So, I'm no Springsteen fan, but I do know enough about the song to know that it is not a patriotic anthem. Of course, the problem is, that you're not gonna understand that if all you do is listen to the chorus of Bruce belting out "BORN in the U - S - A!" But, I guess that's not really a problem because I think we live in a nation where a large portion of the people only listen to the chorus, the sound bite, the talking point, or the bumper sticker. So, this morning, I went and looked up the lyrics to "Born in the USA":


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

[chorus:]
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.

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

[chorus]

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says "Son if it was up to me"
I go down to see the V.A. man
He said "Son don't you understand"

[chorus]

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

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

I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.