Bruce Springsteen has long occupied a contradictory position in American consciousness.

He built his early image off a macho, heartland-rooted, working-class persona, making him into a kind of avatar for the Real American Man, the kind who arrives on his motorcycle with grease-stained hands and never shows a wink of emotion.

But over the past few decades, Springsteen has been slowly deconstructing that image, coming clean about his history with depression while admitting his persona was largely based on his desire to please his father.

Springsteen has also been an outspoken liberal, much to the disdain of those who may have seen a very Make America Great Again patriotism in his lyrics. Still, the gap between Macho-Conservative-Patriot-Bruce and Liberal-Nuanced-Critical-Bruce remains and continues to confound fans and foes alike.

“Born in the USA”: Misunderstood Again

This issue recently came to a head once again when some people on Twitter unearthed the true meaning of Springsteen’s iconic “Born in the USA.” When Donald Trump lay in Walter Reed Medical Center getting the care of dozens of doctors and the best modern medicine had to offer (ostensibly), some of his supporters decided to play Springsteen’s hit outside the hospital.

Music fans were quick to remind these supporters that “Born in the USA” is not actually a pro-government anthem. Instead, it’s a protest song that laments Vietnam and the way the U.S. government used its citizens to fight a meaningless war, then failed to protect them at home.

“To reiterate for what has to be the bajillionth time, ‘Born in the USA’ is not an ode to blind patriotism,” wrote Ben Kaye for Consequence of Sound. “It’s a lament for a country addicted to feeding its working class populace into pointless wars, only to leave them neglected once they return.”

“So the fact that these people were blasting this protest song outside of a military hospital, where actual members and veterans of the military are trying to rest and be cared for, crosses irony over to actual ignorant cruelty.”

In fact, when you look at the lyrics to “Born in the USA,” the song is a litany of many of the ills that plague modern-day Americans. “Born down in a dead man’s town,” it begins, a simple sentence that paints a picture of the hundreds of dying towns and cities whose industries are being devoured—towns that Trump failed to save, despite his many promises.

Born in the U.S.A. – Bruce Springsteen – [LYRICS] [HQ]www.youtube.com

Then the song describes time spent languishing in Vietnam. But its darkest moment may be its last verse: “Down in the shadow of the penitentiary / Out by the gas fires of the refinery / I’m ten years burning down the road / Nowhere to run ain’t nowhere to go,” sings Springsteen. This verse explores the sense of hopelessness that defines too many Americans’ lives, a feeling that has only worsened during 2020, a year of tremendous loss and deep polarization.

All in all, “Born in the USA” professes an extremely different message than what many people who only know the song’s chorus think. The song is the furthest thing from a patriotic battle cry.

But it’s also not an anti-American song, not a “burn it all down” kind of lament. Instead, it’s a complex view of an imperfect nation made up of imperfect people, who are too often taken advantage of by people in power.

In light of all this, “Born in the USA” is the perfect song for the 2020 election. It speaks to our nation’s brokenness as well as our unwillingness to listen to the deeper nuances and true meaning of what our leaders are saying.

It speaks to the deep pain many Americans are feeling, struggling, out of work, sick, or afraid to get sick. It also speaks to the way that many of Trump’s followers have been brainwashed by supposedly patriotic slogans that only serve to deny and distort reality.

Nuance and Complexity?

In a recent interview with Trevor Noah, Springsteen acknowledged the complexity of his persona and lyrics. “I think the issue is that the key to some of my music is that you need to be able to hold two contradictory ideas in your mind at the same time, which is a bit of a measure of adulthood,” he said. “So you need to be able to deal with the fact that a song can be both prideful and critical. That idea is very central to a lot of my music.”

For Springsteen, as for many of us, America is a complex beast. “I’m proud of my country—I’ve had an amazing life and gotten the best out of it through living here, but there’s a lot to continue to be critical about,” he said. “So, both of those things are going into my music.”

A History of Anti-Trump Protest

Springsteen has long been critical of the government—back then of the Vietnam war, and today, of Donald Trump. “He’s deeply damaged at his core,” Springsteen told Esquire. “Anyone in that position who doesn’t deeply feel those ties that bind is a dangerous man, and it’s very pitiful.”

But, true to “Born in the USA,” Springsteen takes a nuanced view of Trump and what he represents. “I believe that there’s a price being paid for not addressing the real cost of the deindustrialization and globalization that has occurred in the United States for the past 35, 40 years and how it’s deeply affected people’s lives and deeply hurt people to where they want someone who says they have a solution,” said Springsteen in 2016.

“And Trump’s thing is simple answers to very complex problems. Fallacious answers to very complex problems. And that can be very appealing.”

Now, in 2020, Springsteen still believes that Trump has put a spell on the nation. “A good portion of our fine country, to my eye, has been thoroughly hypnotized, brainwashed by a con man from Queens,” he said in the Wednesday, October 28th episode of his radio show From My Home to Yours.

“You mix in some jingoism, some phony patriotism, fear of a Black planet, vanity, narcissism, paranoia, conspiracy theories, and a portion of our nation undergoing mass delusions and teetering on violence, and you’re left with the greatest threat to democracy in my lifetime.”

At the end of the show, he urged Americans to do whatever they can to get Trump out. “Remember, America, this is our moment,” he said. “Vote.”