10 Rock Songs You Didn't Realize Were Protest Tracks

Going through rock history, Bruce Springsteen might be the most emblematic American rock star that has ever made it to the big time. Though he has been known as the ideal heartland rocker for years now, The Boss serves as the epitome of what the American Dream can do, working as hard as you can until you finally achieve what you’ve set out to do. That’s just Bruce’s story though, and he knows that not everyone who lives in America has that kind of luxury.

While most people talk about Born in the USA as one of the greatest American rock songs of all time, it really is a study in how much America isn’t what it seems on paper. When Bruce originally started writing the song, he was actually pulling from experiences that he was hearing about from former friends who had gone off to fight in Vietnam and coming back a lot more twisted than they were before. Known as the master of writing characters, everyone in this song is not in a good place, from being given a gun and forced to fight for their country to coming home greeted by their friends who actively spit on them for all the carnage that they were forced to do.

There are even a few spots where Bruce has to stop himself, like when he talks about losing a brother overseas and not finishing the verse because the pain was going to be too much for him to take. When you put it together with the ‘80s synths though, this is just the average 4th of July that seems like they’re meant for barbecues in the backyard. The Boss is a proud American from skin to core, but he’s not willing to just gloss over the questionable events in history either.