Elton John, Adele, and R.E.M. did it. So did Rihanna and the Rolling Stones. If Donald Trump attempted to use her music, Taylor Swift would probably do it, too. Numerous musicians have declined when politicians seek to use their music for campaign purposes. Yet Bruce Springsteen is perhaps the most notable objector. In September 1984, Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” topped the charts, while Ronald Reagan, seeking reelection against Walter Mondale, told an audience in New Jersey that he and the musician shared the same American dream. Springsteen disagreed. Three days later, during a performance in Pittsburgh, he shared his vision of that dream. He remarked, “Initially, the idea was that we all live together like a family where the strong support the weak, and the wealthy aid the poor. That’s the American dream.”
He continued between songs, “I don’t think it was about everyone becoming billionaires but about everyone having a chance to lead a life with some decency and dignity.” June 4, 2024, will mark the 40th anniversary of “Born in the U.S.A.,” Springsteen’s best-selling album. In my recent book, “Righting the American Dream: How the Media Mainstreamed Reagan’s Evangelical Vision,” I discuss how the president attempted to use Springsteen’s lyrics to back that vision, which included reducing welfare, increasing military spending, and opposing abortion – all important to the religious right. Springsteen had a different vision, and Reagan’s attempt to adopt it motivated the singer to become more overtly political in his words and actions. The misunderstanding surrounding “Born in the U.S.A.” is easy to comprehend. Just take a look at the album’s cover art.
From behind, Springsteen faces a massive American flag. The red and white stripes of the flag, combined with Springsteen’s white T-shirt, blue jeans, and red baseball cap, all signal “America.” So why the photo of the blue-jeaned rocker with a pose that suggests youth, sex, and swagger? The image is a kind of Rorschach test, a deliberate mixed message. Springsteen referred to the album’s title track as “one of my greatest and most misunderstood pieces of music.” It features forceful, driving drums and a haunting synthesizer refrain. Springsteen’s rough voice can make it hard to hear the lyrics, which express the pain of a Vietnam veteran who regrets his service and faces unemployment upon his return home. Yet the chorus of the song, which Springsteen sings with pride and energy, fist raised, repeats “Born in the U.S.A., I was born in the U.S.A.” Springsteen was doing two things: criticizing the war and the subsequent treatment of veterans while affirming his American birthright. He described the song as “a call for a ‘critical’ patriotic voice along with pride of birth.” However, many listeners, including conservative columnist George Will, missed this message. Will’s wife had received two concert tickets, and afterward, Will wrote in the Washington Post that Springsteen “is no whiner, and the recitation of closed factories and other problems always seems punctuated by a grand, cheerful affirmation: ‘Born in the U.S.A.!’” Will, who was well-liked within Reagan’s close circle, probably influenced the president’s incorrect assumption that he and Springsteen shared the same American dream.
Springsteen wrote about everyday individuals: bus drivers, factory workers, waitresses, and police officers. Reagan needed their votes, though not all of them supported him. His economic policies benefited wealthy Americans and corporations but offered little to working families and the poor. Springsteen expressed this view in a Rolling Stone interview at the end of 1984: “And you see the Reagan reelection ads on TV – you know: ‘It’s morning in America.’ And you say, well, it’s not morning in Pittsburgh. It’s not morning above 125th Street in New York. It’s midnight.” In that same interview, Springsteen admitted he last voted in 1972 when his chosen candidate, George McGovern, lost to Republican incumbent Richard Nixon. He favored “human politics” – direct actions that made a real difference in local communities. He put this into practice at the Pittsburgh concert following Reagan’s mention of him, donating $10,000 to a food bank for unemployed steelworkers and urging his audience to support the cause as well.
His support for local food banks has been a regular part of his concerts ever since. Reagan communicated his American dream through speeches and interviews. He believed God had granted America with freedom – represented in free markets, limited government, and the freedom to follow one’s religious beliefs. Springsteen has made his American dream the focus of his music: a nation that welcomes immigrants, fights racism, and stands against economic inequality. Its people unite, especially during times of adversity. Before Reagan declared him a Republican inspiration, Springsteen was content to let his music reflect his political views. Afterward, he became more forthright, often referencing a favorite phrase, “Nobody wins, unless everybody wins.” In 2004, he became involved in electoral politics, supporting John Kerry’s presidential campaign. At a large Midwest rally, he warned that the ideals promoted in his music were under threat, “‘United We Stand’ … and ‘one nation indivisible’ aren’t just slogans.
They need to remain the guiding principles of our public life.” Four years later, Springsteen campaigned for Barack Obama and did so again in 2012. He backed Hillary Clinton in 2016, and in 2020, he adapted “My Hometown” for a Biden campaign advertisement. In May 2024, events came full circle when Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential candidate, mentioned Springsteen at a New Jersey rally. However, this time, the candidate wasn’t praising the Garden State singer. He called Springsteen a “wacko,” then falsely claimed that the Boss and other “liberal singers” had voted for him in 2020. Trump also inaccurately stated that his crowds were larger than Springsteen’s. Yet Springsteen had already made his opinion on the candidate clear in a 2020 interview, when Trump was seeking reelection: “I don’t know if our democracy could stand another four years of his custodianship.” Springsteen’s recent compilation of R&B classics is titled “Only the Strong Survive,” and on the cover, the rocker is clothed in black, looking rugged but ready, directly engaging with the viewer. With the title, is he hinting that Reagan’s evangelical vision and Darwinian economic policies had overshadowed Springsteen’s own American dream?