“Born in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen
Because of its patriotic title, Americans think of the Bruce Springsteen song as a nationalist hit. The song, however, is a criticism of America’s treatment of its Vietnam veterans. Springsteen explains, “Born in the U.S.A’ is about a working class man [in the midst of a] spiritual crisis, in which a man is left lost… It’s like he has nothing left to tie him to society anymore. He’s isolated from the government, isolated from his family, to the point where nothing makes sense.”