Is it considered a tubthumping, proud to be American anthem or do most people understand the actual meaning of the song?
It is an absolute banger but as a Brit I am interested to understand how Americans view it.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXRaUdJoHNA&ab\_channel=BruceSpringsteenVEVO](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXRaUdJoHNA&ab_channel=BruceSpringsteenVEVO)
31 comments
I think most people understand it.
I think there’s plenty of people that just don’t care.
But I think the real answer is that even people that get it still take pride that such a song can be written and wildly popular in this country.
Hating on our country is highly American.
My only beef here is how damn ham fisted the lyrics are. Vietnam was bad and apparently the refinery wasn’t hiring highly successful rock musicians. Fetch me my fainting couch.
But seriously, yes, everyone knows the song isn’t super patriotic unless they were born in the last ten years.
It’s used during independence day celebrations, during fireworks, and I think many people see it as a patriotic song. I always tend to think it’s odd, since I know the meaning of the song.
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I think stupid Americans think it’s a patriotic anthem
I’ve just never been a fan of Springsteen.
I love it. Part of being a true patriot is to understand the mistakes your country has made and the challenges it has.
Have you ever looked up approval ratings for….well anything the country does?
Anti-american is American as fuck. Same thing with fortunate son.
Amusement with that aside, the actual sound of the song kinda turns into a grind for me within the first minute, I wouldn’t generally let it finish if it popped up in a mix.
I think it’s a little long.
I’ll never understand why people think bringing up the real meaning of this song is a “gotcha” moment.
Doesn’t take much analyzation to understand the song is hardly a proud anthem about America. I think most people know this and like it or don’t for the song itself, not its meaning. Except for the flag-waving “Murrika! We’re Number One!” crowd, and most Americans see them as ignorant jingoistic idiots.
I’ve never particularly liked it as a song, it’s annoying. I realized as an adult it’s not really a proud-to-be-American song. I think most people probably think it’s an ultra-patriotic song.
Not my favorite Springsteen song, but that’s less to do with the political messaging and more to do with the tune sounding too much like a patriotic anthem. Which I know is the point, but still.
You want something that really slaps, go with the version of [The Ghost of Tom Joad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-c6GphpAeY&ab_channel=BruceSpringsteenVEVO) he did with Tom Morello and [I’m on Fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzQvGz6_fvA&ab_channel=pcindirellie).
There are two groups: people who love it and have only heard the chorus and people who love it and have listened to the rest.
I have not conducted a study to measure the ratio of people who memorize the verses to people who memorize the chorus only. Not a bad idea though.
Some people understand it and some just don’t care.
Too many people misunderstand the lyrics. It is clearly a “fuck the system, this ain’t right” song, but since it is wanting more/better for the USA I would say it is still a patriotic song. Either way, the Boss rules.
It’s a protest song and anyone who really listens to it would know that. A lot of folks just don’t really listen.
It’s just one of those songs that is on everyone’s patriotic playlist despite the fact that we know the lyrics make it a protest song. The fact that it’s a protest song is made irrelevant to the fact that the booming chorus makes it respected as a patriotic song
It’s like how the Macarena is lyrically about a woman cheating on her boyfriend with two of her friends. It didn’t stop us kids from dancing it in the first grade.
Cringe
It alright, I guess
I think it’s a song by a guy named Bruce that people don’t realize is a critique
I fucking hate it. It makes my butthole tighten a lil. Honestly the sound is cheesy but I don’t know much about the meaning behind it
I like to say that there are only two people who I think know what it truly means to be an American. Number one: my aunt, and number two: Bruce Springsteen
Pretty sure it’s supposed to be anti-war, since it’s about vietnam
Great song, some Yanks think it’s affirming exceptionalism, others don’t
Good song, often misunderstood.
Its not a favorite, but i’ve always liked it for what it is. Ive always considered it a new jersey version of the blues. People try to fit it into the patriotic/not patriotic slot, and it just doesn’t hit that way with me. In a country that prides itself on a culture where struggle is a hallmark of success and personal growth, it seems more like a blue collar Horatio Alger ballad to me. Like fortunate son wasn’t anti American so much as anti establishment and anti war.
Listen: every single song ever made to criticize the USA has become a favorite of our nation. Yankee Doodle, Born in the USA, Living in Amerika, and Keep Your Rifle By Your Side. It’s a big habit of ours to openly embrace songs meant to mock or criticize us. Very few of us pretend we’re a perfect country.
It’s both. “Fuck the government” is the backbone of American culture. Protest songs are a huge cultural tradition and many of them have become American anthems. People love “fuck the government,” “fuck the police,” and “fuck the system” songs, even privileged upper-class suburbanites.
Plus, like someone else said, we have a habit of owning satirical things like that and basically turning them into tongue-in-cheek patriotic songs. Goes all the way back to Yankee Doodle.
Oh yeah, that song exists. That’s about the extent of my feelings towards it
Well, I’m American but wasn’t born in the US, so to me the song is excluding and sad.