Thanks for the enlightenment on the SD-Boss connection. I’ll have to re-listen to the Tom Joad album with the lyrics pulled up on my screen now.
I also always wondered why he passes us over so frequently, but I’d say it’s the same reason his album cover had his ass in front of the stars and stripes, which is to say most bang for your buck. Big time touring acts can only stop at so many cities.
As far as Born in the USA: Marketing gimmicks in the music industry take a song title and make it into a cute image without looking much into lyrics. And alas, every artist must sacrifice their message at some point when they’re trying to make more money. In terms of the lyrics being lost on the republicans, I’d say they were lost on pretty much everyone who has ever heard “Born in the USA,” especially many international fans. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t regularly read lyrics, and when the verses are mumbled but the choruses are clearly fist-pumping chants it’s hard to totally blame the audience. This does remind me of the fact that Minor Threat’s song “Guilty of Being White” became a draw for neo-nazis to their shows, but guess what they did? They stopped playing that song, then broke up altogether when they felt like the irony built into their lyrics and song structure was lost on the growingly violent crowds of skinheads and not just the intellectual fans who were in the know.
Since hardcore punk the Boss is not, maybe that also explains why he gladly capitalized on the popularity of that song while also claiming it was being misunderstood, instead of pulling the song from the airwaves or breaking up the E-Street band completely to prove the point that his artistic purity was more important than paying the mortgage. But who are we to judge the Boss? What he says goes, ok buddy boy?
Thanks for the enlightenment on the SD-Boss connection. I’ll have to re-listen to the Tom Joad album with the lyrics pulled up on my screen now.
I also always wondered why he passes us over so frequently, but I’d say it’s the same reason his album cover had his ass in front of the stars and stripes, which is to say most bang for your buck. Big time touring acts can only stop at so many cities.
As far as Born in the USA: Marketing gimmicks in the music industry take a song title and make it into a cute image without looking much into lyrics. And alas, every artist must sacrifice their message at some point when they’re trying to make more money. In terms of the lyrics being lost on the republicans, I’d say they were lost on pretty much everyone who has ever heard “Born in the USA,” especially many international fans. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t regularly read lyrics, and when the verses are mumbled but the choruses are clearly fist-pumping chants it’s hard to totally blame the audience. This does remind me of the fact that Minor Threat’s song “Guilty of Being White” became a draw for neo-nazis to their shows, but guess what they did? They stopped playing that song, then broke up altogether when they felt like the irony built into their lyrics and song structure was lost on the growingly violent crowds of skinheads and not just the intellectual fans who were in the know.
Since hardcore punk the Boss is not, maybe that also explains why he gladly capitalized on the popularity of that song while also claiming it was being misunderstood, instead of pulling the song from the airwaves or breaking up the E-Street band completely to prove the point that his artistic purity was more important than paying the mortgage. But who are we to judge the Boss? What he says goes, ok buddy boy?