Born in the U.S.A.
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
Till you spend half your life just covering
up
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Got in a little hometown jam so they put a
rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land yo go and kill
the yellow man
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A., born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said "son if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "son don't you understand now"
Had a brother at Khe Sahn fighting off the
Viet Cong
They're still there he's all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now
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 got nowhere to go
Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.
The times are tough now
Just getting tougher
This old world is rough
It's just getting rougher
Cover me
Come on baby cover me
Well I'm looking for a lover who will come
on in and cover me
Promise me baby you won't let them find
us
Hold me in your arms
Let's let our love blind us
Cover me
Shut the door and cover me
Well I'm looking for a lover who will come
on in and cover me
Outside's the rain, the driving snow
I can hear the wild wind blowing
Turn out the light
Bolt the door
I ain't going out there no more
This whole world is out there just trying to
score
I've seen enough I don't want to see any
more
Cover me
Come on and cover me
I'm looking for a lover who will come on in
and cover me
Looking for a lover who will come on in
and cover me
Driving in to Darlington County
Me and Wayne on the Fourth of July
Driving in to Darlington County
Lookin' for some work on the county line
We drove down from New York City
where the girls are pretty but they just
want to know your name
Driving into Darlington City
Got a union connection with an uncle of
Wayne's
We drove eight-hundred miles without
seeing a cop
We got rock'n'roll music blasting off the
t-top singing
CHORUS
Sha-la la
Sha la la la
Sha-la la la la la la
REPEAT CHORUS
Hey little girl standing on the corner
Today's your lucky day for shure all right
Me and my buddy we're from New York
City
We got $200, we want to rock all night
Girl, you're looking at two big spenders
Why the world don't know what me and
Wayne might do
Our pa's each own one of the World
Trade Centers
For a kiss and a smile I'll give mine all to
you
Come on baby take a seat on my fender
It's a long night tell me what else
were you gonna do
Just me and you, we could sha la la
Little girl sitting in the window
Ain't seen my buddy in seven days
County man tells me the same thing
He don't work and he don't get paid
Little girl you're so young and pretty
Walk with me and you can have your way
And we'll leave this Darlington City for a
ride down that Dixie Highway
Driving out of Darlington County
My eyes seen the glory of the coming of
the Lord
Driving out of Darlington County seen
Wayne handcuffed to the bumper of a
state trooper's Ford
REPEAT CHORUS 3 TIMES
Friday night's pay night guys fresh out of
work
Talking about the weekend, scrubbing off
the dirt
Some heading home to their families,
some looking to get hurt
Some going down to Stovell wearing
trouble on their shirts
I work for the county out on 95
All day I hold a red flag and watch the
traffic pass me by
In my head I keep a picture of a pretty little
miss
Someday mister I'm gonna lead a better
life than this
Working on the highway laying down the
blacktop
Working on the highway all day long I
don't stop
Working on the highway blasting through
the bedrock
Working on the highway
Working on the highway
I met her at a dance down at the union
hall
She was standing with her brothers, back
up against the wall
Sometimes we'd go walking down the
union tracks
One day I looked straight at her and she
looked straight back
So I'm working on the highway laying
down the blacktop
Working on the highway all day long I
don't stop
Working on the highway blasting through
the bedrock
Working on the highway
Working on the highway
I saved up my money and I put it all away
I went to see her daddy but we didn't have
much to say
"Son, can't you see that she's just a little
girl she don't know nothing about this
cruel, cruel world"
We lit out down to Florida we got along
all right
One day her brother came and got her
and they took me in a black and white
The prosecutor kept the promise that he
made on that day
And the judge got mad and he put me
straight away
I wake up every morning to the work bell
clang
Me and the warden go swinging on the
Charlotte County road gang
I'm working on the highway laying down
the blacktop
Working on the highway all day long I
don't stop
Working on the highway blasting through
the bedrock
Working on the highway
Working on the highway
Working on the highway laying down the
blacktop
Working on the highway all day long I
don't stop
Working on the highway blasting through
the bedrock
Working on the highway
Working on the highway
I had a job, I had a girl
I had something going mister in this world
I got laid off down at the lumber yard
Our love went bad, times got hard
Now I work down at the carwash, where
all it ever does is rain
Don't you feel like you're a rider on a
downbound train
She just said "Joe I gotta go, we had it
once we ain't got it any more"
She packed her bags left me behind
She bought a ticket on the Central Line
Nights as I sleep, I hear that whistle
whining
I feel her kiss in the misty rain
And I feel like I'm a rider on a
Downbound train
Last night I heard your voice
You were crying, crying
You were so alone
You said your love had never died
You were waiting for me at home
Put on my jacket, I ran through the woods
I ran till I thought my chest would explode
There in the clearing, beyond the
highway, in the moonlight, our wedding
house shone
I rushed through the yard
I burst through the front door
My head pounding hard
Up the stairs I climbed, the room was
dark, our bed was empty
Then I heard that long whistle whine and I
dropped to my knees, hung my head
and cried
Now I swing a sledge hammer on a
railroad gang knocking down them
cross ties; working in the rain
Now don't it feel like you're a rider on a
downbound train.
Hey little girl is your daddy home
Did he go away and leave you all alone
I got a bad desire
I'm on fire
Tell me now baby is he good to you
Can he do to you the things that I do
I can take you higher
I'm on fire
Sometimes it's like someone tooh a knife
baby edgy and dull and cut a six-inch
valley through the middle of my soul
At night I wake up with the sheets soaking
wet and a freight train running through
the middle of my head
Only you can cool my desire
I'm on fire
We busted out of class had to get away
from those fools
We learned more from a three minute
record than we ever learned in school
Tonight I heart the neighborhood
drummer sound
I can feel my heart begin to pound you
say you're tired and you just want to
close your eyes and follow your dreams
down
CHORUS
We made a promise we swore we'd
always remember
No retreat no surrender
Like soldiers in the winter's night with a
vow to defend, no retreat no surrender
Now young faces grow sad and old and
hearts of fire grow cold, we swore blood
brothers against the wind. I'm ready to
grow young again and hear your sister's
voice calling us home across the open
yards well maybe we could cut
someplace of our own with these drums
and these guitars
CHORUS
Blood brothers in the stormy night with a
vow to defend no retreat no surrender
Now on the street tonight the lights grow
dim the walls of my room are closing in
There's a war outside still raging
You say it ain't ours anymore to win
I want to sleep beneath paecaful skies in
my lover's bed with a wide open country
in my eyes an these romantic dreams
in my head
Well I came by your house the other day
Your mother said you went away
She said there was nothing that I could
have done
There was nothing nobody could say
Me and you we've known each other ever
since we were sixsteen
I wished I would have known
I wished I could have called you
Just to say goodbye Bobby Jean
Now you hung with me when all the
others turned away, turned up their
noise
We liked the same music, we liked the
same bands, we liked the same clothes
We told each other that we were the
wildest
The wildest things we'd ever seen
Now I wished you would have told me
I wished I could have talked to you
Just to say goodbye Bobby Jean
Now we went walking in the rain talking
about the pain from the world we hid
Now there ain't nobody, nowherer nohow
gonna ever understand me the way you
did
Maybe you'll be out there on that road
somewhere, in some bus or train
traveling along, in some motel room
there'll be a radio playing and you'll hear
me sing this song
Well, if you do, you'll know I'm thinking of
you and all the miles in between and
I'm just calling one last time
Not to change your mind, but just to say I
miss you baby, good luck, goodbye
Bobby Jean
We sit in the car outside your house
I can feel the heat coming 'round
I go to put my arm around you and you
Give me a look like I'm way out of bounds,
you let out one of your bored sighs
Well lately, when I look into your eyes I'm
goin down
We get dressed up and we go out baby
for the night
We come home early burning, burning,
burning in some fire fight
I'm sick and tired of you setting me up,
setting me up just to knock-a, knock-a,
knock-a me down
I pull you close but when we kiss I can feel
a doubt
I remember back when we started, my
kisses used to turn you inside out
I used to drive you to work in the morning
Friday night I'd drive you all around
You used to love to drive me wild
But lately girl you get your kicks from just
driving me down
I had a friend was a big baseball player
back in highschool
He could throw that speedball by yu
Make you look like a fool boy
Saw him the other night at this roadside
bar I was walking in he was walking
out
We went back inside sat down, had a few
drinks but all we kept talking about was
CHORUS
Glory days well they'll pass you by
Glory days in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory days, glory days
There's this girl that lives up the block back
in school she could turn all the boys
heads
Sometimes on Friday I'll stop by and
have a few drinks after she put her kids
to bed
Her and her husband Bobby well they
split up
I guess it's two years gone by
We just sit around talking about the old
times, she says when she feels like
crying she starts laughing thinking
about
CHORUS
Think I'm going down to the well tonight
and I'm gonna drink till I get my fill
And I hope when I get old I don't sit
around thinking about it but I probably
will
Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture
a little of the glory of, but time slips away
and leaves you with nothing mister but
boring stories of glory days
CHORUS
I get up in the evening
And I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the moring
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired
Man, I'm tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby I could use just a little
help
You can't start a fire
You can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
Message keeps getting clearer
Radio's on and I'm moving round the place
I check my look in the mirror
I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face
Man, I ain't getting nowhere just living in a
dump like this
There's something happening
somewhere
Baby I just know that there is
You can't start a fire
You can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
You sit around getting older
There's a joke here somewhere and it's
on me
I'll shake this world off my shoulders
Come baby the laugh's on me
Stay on the streets of this town
And they'll be carving you up alright
They say you got to stay hungry
Hey baby I'm just about starving tonight
I'm dying for some action
I'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to
write this book
I need a love reaction
Come on now baby give me just one look
You can't start a fire sitting 'round crying
over a broken heart
This gun's for hire
Even if we're just dancing in the dark
You can't start a fire worrying about your
little world falling apart
This gun's for hire
I was eight years old and running with a
dime in my hand
Into the busstop
To pick up a paper for my old man
I'd sit on his lap in that big old Buick and
steer as we drove through town
He'd tousle my hair and say son take a
good look around this is your hometown
This is your hometown
This is your hometown
This is your hometown
In `65 tension was running high, at my
high-school
There was a lot of fights between the
black and white
There was nothing you could do
Two cars at a light on a Saturday night, in
the back seat there was a gun
Words were passed, in a shotgun blast
Troubled times had come, to my
hometown
My hometown
My hometown
My hometown
Now Main Street's whitewashed
windows
And vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody
Wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill
across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys
and they ain't coming back to your
hometown
Your hometown
Your hometown
Your hometown
Last night me and Kate we laid in bed
talking about getting out
Packing up our bags maybe heading
south
I'm 35, we got a boy of our own now
Last night I sat him up, behind the wheel
and said son take a good look around,
this is your hometown
Roy Bittan: synthesizer, piano, background vocals
Clarence Clemons. saxophone, percussion, background vocals
Danny Federici: organ, glockenspiel, piano on "Born in the U.S.A."
Garry Tallent: bass, background vocals
Steve Van Zandt: acoustic guitar, mandolin, harmony vocals
Bruce Springsteen: lead vocals, guitar
Max Weinberg: drums, background vocals
Recorded by: Toby Scon
Mixed by: Bob Clearmountain
Recorded at the Power Station and The Hit Factory (thanks to Ed and Troy Germano)
Mixed at the Power Station
Assistant Engineers: John Davenport, Jeff Hendrickson, Bruce Lampcov,
Billy Straus, Zoč Yanakas
Mastered by: Bob Ludwig at Masterdisk
Art Direction & Design: Andrea Klein
Photography: Annie Leibovitz
Roadwork: Mike Batian and Doug Sutphin
Homework: Obie
Management: Jon Landau (Barbara Carr, Associate; Denise Sileci, Office Manager)
La Bamba: background vocals on 'Cover Me" and "No Surrender"
Ruth Jackson: background vocals on "My Hometown"
"Cover Me" track recorded by Bili Scheniman
Thanks to Paul Schrader
Thanks always to John Hammond Sr.
Buon viaggio, mio fratello, little Steven
Produced by Bruce Springsteen, Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Steve Van Zandt
PRODUCED BY
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, JON LANDAU, CHUCK PLOTKIN, STEVE VAN ZANDT
PERFORMED BY
THE E STREET BAND: ROY BITTAN, CLARENCE CLEMONS, DANNY FEDERICI,
GARRY TALLENT, STEVE VAN ZANDT, MAX WEINBERG
RECORDED BY: TOBY SCOTT/ MIXED BY: BOB CLEARMOUNTAIN
ART DIRECTION & DESIGN: ANDREA KLEIN / PHOTOGRAPHY: ANNIE LEIBOVITZ
© all right reserved