Springsteen HAS TO Open the DNC with Born in the USA

[romantico]

They need to get him. How cool would that be?

[eeyore]

1. Not a good idea...

The title works as a cute jab, but the message is completely about getting screwed by The USA over and over. Every politician who's ever tried to use it has failed to get the true meaning of the song. It ain't about being patriotic!

Born down in a dead man 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.
I was 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
To go and kill the yellow man

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

I 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 aint 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.

[Butterbean]

2. Agreed, it's a horribly depressing song if you really listen to it.

[Floyd_Gondolli]

4. Absolutely right

However I think the general meaning of the song to most people has taken on a life of its own. For a lot of people it's considered a patriotic tune even if the lyrics are closer to that of a protest song.

I'm not saying they should or shouldn't play the song, however.

[NightWatcher]

7. that's a terrible song, it reaks of bad economy, war, depression...

better suggestion

[Thrill]

3. If he's there. It will be to sing We Take Care Of Our Own

[Waiting For Everyman]

5. His song 'The Rising' is still a great one though.

Obama used it in '08, but that doesn't mean it can't be used again. It was written about 9/11, but has a wider meaning. I love that song, I think it's very motivating. I play it now and then when I want a 'lift'.

[freshwest]

6. Springsteen has said he's sticking to music in 2012, but still made this for OFA:

A Bruce Springsteen song that’s been selected by President Barack Obama’s reelection campaign now has a sing-a-long video to go with it.

In the video “We Take Care of Our Own,” Springsteen plays in what looks like a closed down warehouse. Black and white images of economic degradation, people of various ethnicity walking through the streets or focusing on tasks at work scroll by, with the lyrics subtitled across the screen.

“I been looking for the map that leads me home,” he croons. “I been stumbling on good hearts turned to stone / The road of good intentions has gone dry as a bone / We take care of our own / We take care of our own / Wherever this flag’s flown, we take care of our own.”

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/10/springsteen-releases-video-for-obama-campaign-song-we-take-care-of-our-own/

We Take Care Of Our Own doesn't pull any punches, any more than Born In The USA did. That song showed we had a better vision than going to war. We have to acknowledge what is wrong before we can heal it.

The newer song could be termed the follow-up to his famous song, Youngstown. There is no love for what corporate America has done to us in this song.

Youngstown is a perfect example of what vulture capitalists like Romney have done to America.
The destruction of America began long before Obama. None of his songs promote blind patriotism, they promote activism. One of the comments on the video, ties into the Romneys of the world:

I had a friend who's family moved to Youngstown in the mid 70's as his father was an accounted hired by one of the big steel companies that went under. My friend told me that his father figured out ways that the mills could have been saved but the steel mill's owners and investors profited more in the short term by shutting it all down and taking it all as a big write off. I'm not making this up.

cnmrosko

I doubt Springsteen would object to Born In The USA being used. And Birther heads would explode upon hearing Born In The USA. I hope they pick it.

[romantico]

8. OK

Then Bruce comes out and introduces Obama and then sings Born or The Rising. I would love to see the Democrats do what the Republicans did and get a surprise guest on closing night but have it be someone actually interesting and have it go over as a success unlike Clint's gig.