Born in the U!S!A! U!S!A!
=v= I caught the Springsteen concert in Pittsburgh, where I heard him sing “My Hometown” in my hometown. (He was of course singing about his hometown, but no matter.)
In the 1980s, George Will touted Springsteen and his “merry little” E Street Band as exhibiting the sort of optimistic can-do spirit that Will felt was most seemly for the working class. Ronald Reagan echoed his sentiments. Springsteen responded by playing his song “Johnny 99” and suggesting that they try listening to the lyrics. In the prologue to his cover of “War,” he went a bit further and warned that faith in your leaders will get you killed.
Fast forward to last Wednesday. Springsteen had a short remark about lies coming from the government. Most of the 45,000 in attendance listened politely, but as luck would have it, I was seated in front of 2 hecklers who shared 1 brain cell between them. One of them yelled, “Vote Bush!” and high-fived the other (passing the brain cell in the process, you see) who then yelled, “Dubya!”
Developing his thesis further, he yelled “U!S!A! U!S!A!” At which point I came up with the perfect retort: “This is Springsteen, not Springer!” Alas, when I gave voice to this retort I said “Springfield” instead of “Springsteen.” D’oh! But at least it did the trick: their brain cell overloaded, they sat down to ponder the matter and didn’t do any more heckling.
But I'm kind of glad you had a Simpsons moment all the same.
Posted by Kate M. on August 9 2003 19:46
I saw his show in New Jersey a couple of weeks ago. The remark about demanding accountability from the government seems to be part of this tour's standard commentary.
Springsteen also said, "We get people with all kinds of political views listening to our music, and we like that." Okay, I don't mind sharing a stadium with conservatives as long as they've got good taste in music. But what bugged me the most was the people who kept getting up and walking around through the rows of seats to get food and beer, sometimes in the middle of songs.
C'mon people, this isn't some local bar band, this is THE BOSS! You paid about a hundred bucks a ticket to see the man in person, and you'd rather indulge your appetites than sit down (or even stand up) and listen to the music? This is the 21st century, and if you want to watch a Springsteen show with all your slob comforts, there's a perfectly good video on the market from the '99 tour. And is a $6.75 stadium beer really going to enhance your concert experience that much?
I imagine that the people shouting "USA! USA!" might have been hoping to hear the band do "Born in the USA". They have been bringing out a lot of the pop hits from that album on this tour, which they didn't do in '99. I admit I was as thrilled as anyone to hear him bust out "Glory Days". But I suspect that the time isn't right for "Born in the USA" -- it's too open to misinterpretation by people who hear nothing but the title line. Which was the case pretty much from the day it was released. Irony in a top 40 hit? Flies right over the heads of practically all the listeners (and don't even get me started about that Canadian bird who doesn't even know the meaning of the word).
Posted by Jimcat on August 11 2003 05:46
=v= Kate: It would've been a meta-Simpsons moment if I'd said "Springton." :^)
=v= Jimcat: "Born in the USA" was the very song that got George Will to exhibit his cluelessness -- and never mind the lyrics. The Boss is wise not to play it during the current spectacle of jingoism.
Posted by Jym on August 11 2003 08:46