springsteen’s born in the u.s.a.: promoting historical ... · promoting historical inquiry...

Social Studies Research and Practice

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Volume 9 Number 3 118 Winter 2014

Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A.: Promoting Historical Inquiry through Music

Tina L. Heafner

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Eric Groce

Elizabeth Bellows

Alicia Finnell

Appalachian State University

Music elicits emotions and acts as a cultural definer of class values, political beliefs, and

economic life. Students are intrinsically drawn to and possess an innate ability for interpreting

music. Music, moreover, activates learning in ways other content sources cannot; yet, it is

utilized infrequently in social studies classrooms as a historical inquiry tool. Harnessing its

emotive and seductive power, music as a primary source naturally scaffolds understanding of the

zeitgeist through sensory engagement and lyrical analyses. Focusing on Born in the U.S.A.

(Springsteen, 1984), authors demonstrate how examining music can impart views often absent

from mass media portrayal of historical events and eras. A music listening and analysis tool is

employed as a heuristic for critically interpreting music to explore the past. The historical

thinking processes presented offer an inquiry-oriented curricular model for integrating music and

social studies.

Keywords: music, historical thinking, close reading, contextualizing, corroborating,

sourcing, lyrical analysis, text chunking

Introduction

A 2010 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found youth spend over 7½ hours daily

engaged with media (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). While multi-tasking, these children

packed over 10 hours of media consumption into that timeframe, including 2½ hours devoted to

listening to music. In contrast, they spent approximately 30 minutes reading. Comparing these

data to social studies time research (Heafner & Fitchett, 2013), students spend significantly more

time, on average, listening to music than they typically spend in social studies classes. Despite

its popularity, students are infrequently given opportunities to listen to music as a curricular

activity (Mangram & Weber, 2012; Root, 2005; White & McCormack, 2006). This is not to say

music is not played in schools, rather, music rarely serves as the central focus of historical

inquiry. The propensity with which students gravitate to music makes this media form an

underutilized tool for developing historical thinking skills (Brkich, 2012; Medina, 2014;

Pellegrino & Lee, 2012; Sousa, 2011).

Music is considered the language of emotion as a creative form of human

communication, and is “one of the most powerful elicitors of subjective emotion" (Logeswaran

& Bhattacharya, 2009, p. 129). Messages conveyed by artists are encumbered with socio-

political criticism and activism, emotionally laden themes often prevalent in history (Brkich,

2012; White & McCormack, 2006). Unlike text-based sources, however, music is personally


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accessible to all students (Logeswaran & Bhattacharya; Lovorn, 2009; Zukas, 1996). It has the

capacity to improve empathy skills while boosting cognition (Medina, 2014; Sousa, 2011).

Social studies teachers can harness this multimodal benefit as well as its socio-political and

historical value, when they integrate music into student learning experiences (Pellegrino & Lee,

2012).

What differentiates music from most primary sources is that it has a life of its own; one

that stands apart from time and yet remains within its time. Music’s power to affect mood and

generate connections exemplifies its contemporary learning value, but it also serves as a source

of historical memory both of lyrical descriptions of events as well as emotional tones embodying

feelings of earlier generations. Music is both an emotional and educational experience. As a

primary source, “music makes a great deal of sense. Music not only opens a window to the past,

but carries with it emotions and sentiments—feelings that were incorporated into the music when

it was composed—that can be shared by all” (Whitmer, 2005, p. 5). Music is expressive,

unifying, and personal; it is a cultural definer. Embodying the zeitgeist, the spirit of the time,

music has the capacity to create feelings that can lead to empathic understanding. It provides

students with “direct commentary, attitudes, and emotions expressed by real people in particular

historical periods” (Binkiewicz, 2006, p. 516) in an intimate and entertaining manner (Lovorn,

2009). When students can empathize with the people they study, content is more meaningful and

relevant. Music, hence, is a compelling tool for engaging students in historical thinking

(Mangram & Weber, 2012; Martens, 1925; Pellegrino & Lee, 2012; Root, 2005; White &

McCormack, 2006), an act well documented as critical to learning social studies (Barton, 2005;

Barton & Levstik, 2004; VanSledright, 2011; Wineburg, 2001).

Using Music as an Historical Inquiry Tool

In this article, we demonstrate how music as a primary source allows students to

understand the zeitgeist by sourcing, contextualizing, and corroborating evidence through close

reading and close listening lyrical analysis. These skills align with the contemporary

expectations for learning articulated within the College, Career and Civic Life (C3) Framework

for Social Studies State Standards (C3 Framework) (NCSS, 2013) and the English Language

Arts Common Core State Standards for History and the Social Sciences (National Governors

Association Center for Best Practices & Council of State School Officers [NGA & CCSSO],

2010). Critical analysis of 21st century media, like music, is a critical skill recommended for

learning in social studies classrooms (Framework for 21st Century Learning, 2009).

Students are expected to independently and to proficiently interpret complex primary and

secondary sources texts as well as exhibit discipline-specific skills. These inquiry skills include:

evaluating evidence,

supporting interpretations,

recognizing central ideas,

questioning the accuracy of information,

critically examining multiple points of view across sources,

filtering text for the complex meaning of words and language usage within texts,

determining and challenging the sources informing the argument within the text,

and

creating a coherent interpretive, integrated view across sources.

Collectively, these are cognitive abilities needed for historical reasoning and historical thinking.


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Figure 1. Facets of Historical Thinking

In Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts, Sam Wineburg (2001) used three key

information processing concepts—sourcing, contextualizing, and corroboration—to explain how

historians think as they read historical documents. Historians source information about the

document and author. Sourcing is used to identify the author, the intended audience, and the

time in which it originated. Sourcing, additionally, leads readers to examine the document’s

purpose, the author’s perspective, and the fidelity of both. Historians contextualize by placing

the document within events associated with a specific time period, place, and culture. They then,

corroborate information by comparing facts across multiple sources and by examining differing

points of view. They look for inconsistences and disagreements in evidence across documents

and work to resolve conflicts by determining what information appears to be most reliable.

These three habits of the mind describe ways historians view accounts and question evidence

found within texts. From more recent work, Reading Like a Historian, Sam Wineburg, Daisy

Martin and Chauncey Monte-Sano (2013) have added a fourth dimension, which is referenced

as, close reading. Close reading is also a prominent method for comprehension touted in literacy

circles and purported in the Common Core State Standards (National Governors Association

Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers [NGA & CCSSO], 2010).

Close reading draws readers into the text and leads historians: to evaluate the purposeful use of

language, to identify the evidence authors reveal as well as assertions made, and to use this text-

based information to make inferences about the author’s point of view. Figure 1 visually

•What historians do

to describe

conditions in other

parts of the world at

the time the source

under examination

was created?


to relate one source

to another source?


to describe the time

frame and conditions

locally, nationally,

and globally that

would inform

understanding?

•What historians

do before

reading or

listening closely

that supports

content

comprehension? Sourcing Contextual-

ization

Comparative

Thinking Corroboration


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displays the four attributes of historical thinking as well as the questions historians would ask for

each heuristic.

Tapping into Wineburg’s (2001) model for historical thinking, we nurture music inquiry

through close reading and close listening. To scaffold this process, we integrate visualization

and imagery to support cognition and narrative formation. Visualization is an active process in

which the reader creates images in their mind as they read or listen (Massey & Heafner, 2014).

This is a way for students to connect with existing schema in order to personalize content in the

text. Images are unique to the cultural assets and identity of each reader. Imagery provides

opportunities for students to experience vicariously what they read and hear. Visual-spatial

thinking that result from visualization and imagery are cognitive processes associated with

music-enhanced learning (Medina, 2014; Sousa, 2011). These skills, furthermore, are highly

effective reading comprehension strategies in which information recall is both increased and

more accurate (Readence, Bean, & Baldwin, 2004; Vacca & Vacca, 2008). Narrative formation

is the learning outcome produced by historians. It is the story they create about the past from

text-based evidence. Figure 2 organizes music inquiry and historical thinking skills into an

integrative process.

Applying close reading and close listening to slow down and dissect an artist’s use of

language, tone, and musical emphasis can initiate student curiosity. As an inquiry process,

exploring the meaning of words within lyrics and developing inferential thinking beyond the text

are processes, which support cognitive skill development in sourcing, contextualizing, and

corroborating. Together, teachers listen closely with students to how the artist presents words

and collaboratively examine feelings experienced as they hear the song. Focusing on

visualization, students are asked to recall the images evoked by the sounds and compare these to

the imagery associated with word meanings. Shared talk about their multi-sensory

understanding becomes a class activity. Weaving together these thinking phases, teachers guide

students in articulating their interpretations into a cohesive narrative. In this article, we model

these learning processes and demonstrate how music develops students’ inquiry skills and

historical thinking abilities. Examining deeply our application with a single song will help

teachers scaffold students’ thinking more purposefully about music and lyrics in order to equip

students with knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to make more thoughtful decisions in

the present and the future.

We recommend the use of music to actively impart views regularly absent from the mass

media portrayal of historical events and eras. Songs are a colorful way to describe “lifestyles

and experiences of eyewitnesses of history. They enable teachers to effectively teach cultural

concepts such as civic ideals, activism, economics, strife, struggle, nationalism and regionalism,

and empathy” (Lovoran, 2009, p. 177). Juxtaposing pop culture music with the dominant

cultural views allows us to present a counter narrative of history; one that has the propensity to

intuitively (Logeswaran & Bhattacharya, 2009; Zukas, 1996) engage disenfranchised learners

(Brkich, 2012; Epstein, Mayorga, & Nelson, 2011; Hess, 2009; White & McCormack, 2006) and

effectively integrate digital sources (Brush & Saye, 2009; Harris, Mishra, & Koehler, 2009).

Although the primary focus of this article is one song, the lyrical inquiry format is a replicable

process to be utilized with other songs as a tool to challenge and critically evaluate topics within

a text-dependent curriculum. We purposefully chose to examine Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce

Springsteen to model close reading and close listening strategies recommended in the Common


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Core Standards. To aid educators in replicating our musical inquiry process, we shift attention to

describing instructional steps for scaffolding historical thinking through interpreting song lyrics.

Figure 2. Music Inquiry and Historical Thinking

Critical Music Literacy and Historical Inquiry

To say the breadth and diversity of music that captures American experiences, events,

and beliefs is sizeable would be a gross understatement. Several songs, for example, provide a

recognizable narrative of working class experiences akin to the personal stories Bruce

Springsteen describes in his lyrics. Unraveling the human experience through song requires

students to develop critical music literacy to discern meaning. To promote this level of historical

inquiry, we recommend playing music in the classroom and suggest listening be accompanied by

a structured analysis. Closely listening to music is a skill that transcends time, making songs

unique primary sources that are cognitively accessible to all learners (Heafner, Groce, &

Bellows, 2014; Mangram & Weber, 2012; Pellegrino & Lee, 2012; Root, 2005; White &

McCormack, 2006; Whitmer, 2005). Utilizing a multi-sensory approach to music interpretation,

we share a lyrics analysis framework (see Figure 3). This music listening and analysis tool can

be employed as a heuristic for interpreting the past and as an inquiry strategy to explore the

contradicting views of this era as well as resource to inspire curiosity.

This analysis tool scaffolds student close listening and content inferences as they begin to

interpret meaning from songs. We included alignment with historical thinking skills in each

sensory step. This exercise was intended to merge listening with reading to make this a seamless

close analysis process that moves through sensory-oriented thinking. Notice we began with what

is seen to initiate sourcing and contextualization. Transitioning to an examination of how

students hear the song, students were asked to pay close attention to the musicality of the song.

Next, we tapped into emotive responses in how students felt as they listened as well as how it

Narrative Formation

Sourcing

Close Reading

Contextualizing

Corroborating

Visualizing

Close Listening


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might have been experienced in the past. As an elaborative learning exercise, students talked

and wrote about their thinking. We emphasized knowing is not enough to demonstrate learning.

Students were expected to be able to convey articulately their thinking, in both: an oral and

written fashion. Moving learning to new contexts, we asked students to look beyond the text for

consistent and contradictory meanings. Throughout these steps, we pushed students to question,

to wonder, to infer, to convey, and ultimately to confirm their understanding.

Sensory

Thinking

Historical

Thinking Skill

Questions to Guide My

Experience and Interpretation

I think...

{My

Interpretations}

I wonder...

{My

Questions}

See Sourcing

Contextualizing

Close Reading

Close Reading

Describe the cover to the

music score, the record, or

the album. What is the date?

When was it recorded? Who

is the composer, artist, and/or

performer?

Examine the lyrics. What

people, places, and events

from history do you

recognize?

Identify literary (simile,

metaphor, parallelism,

analogies) and poetic devices

(rhyme, hyperbole,

symbolism, beautiful

language).

Look at the music. What is

the tempo? What instrument

do you think was intended to

play this music?

Hear Close Listening Listen to a recording or

play/sing the music. What is

the tone, tempo, and melody?

Is harmony used? What is

the rhythm of the song?

What mood does it set?

Play the music again. Listen

for the instruments and how

they sound together or alone.

Describe what you hear. Is

this a familiar tune? Where

was this recorded?

Feel Visualization

What is your emotional

response? Describe your


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Imagery

Sourcing

Contextualizing

feelings. What mental

picture does it create?

What did you imagine as you

listened? What connections

did you make as you heard

the song?

What is the song about? Who

was the intended audience?

Where would it have been

performed?

How would listeners in the

past have felt in comparison

to your experience?

Talk Sourcing

Contextualizing

Generate meaning collectively. How do the

words and music work

together? What is the story

that this is being told by this

song? What is the artist

and/or performer's purpose?

What do you know was

going on during this time

period? What can you tell

about what life was like as

described in this song? How

popular would this song have

been in its time? From your

experiences and

interpretation of this song,

how would you describe the

culture of the song?

Write Narrative

Formation

Contextualizing

Corroboration

Summarize and synthesize

the meaning of this song;

meaning within its time and

in your time.

What do we know about the

society that produced this

music?

How does it fit (or not fit)

with what we have learned

about the culture or era that

created it?

Research Corroboration Where do I go to seek

answers to my questions?


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Source: Heafner, Groce, Bellows (2014)

Figure 3. Music Listening and Analysis Tool

While a multi-sensory approach in which students conduct an integrated close listening

and close reading exercise is preferred, a variation in using this music analysis tool is to begin

with a close reading of lyrics. For this modification, we recommend Text Chunking (Massey &

Heafner, 2014), a technique in which text is sub-divided into smaller sections (verses and chorus)

and distributed in increments. This method promotes complexity in learning by giving students

time to process information and develop detailed interpretations without the distraction of gist

seeking. For each chunked text section, interpretive purposes guide (i.e. questions from song

analysis tool) student thinking. Students are given the lyrics prior to listening so they can slowly

and closely read the text to infer deep meaning (e.g. skills encapsulated in Common Core and C3

Framework). Deliberate and purposeful reading allows students to explore word choice,

complex inferential meaning, and literary and artistic aspects of music. After a close reading is

conducted, students listen to the song. They focus their attention on feelings and imagery

experienced as they hear the words and music together. They use close listening to verify and

challenge their text-based interpretations. When close reading occurs prior to close listening, we

recommend emphasizing skill development in sourcing, contextualizing and corroboration. The

following content example demonstrates this music inquiry approach.

Born in the U.S.A.: A Music Inquiry

Born in the U.S.A., the song we chose to highlight, is examined in light of the social,

political and economic culture of the early 1980’s (Troy, 2005). We give special attention to the

complexity and contradictions of the Reagan years. Our inquiry is guided by this question:

Which vision of America was the most accurate in the 1980’s, the one articulated by Reagan or

the one expressed by Springsteen? To initiate thinking, we begin with a historical context for

examining Born in the U.S.A. (Springsteen, 1984). As Avishag Riseman and Sam Wineburg

(2008) articulate, there is an absolute necessity for building background knowledge in order to

help students contextualize and develop historical understanding. Given that many students’

lack of background knowledge can hinder interpretations and can lead to misinterpretations

(Barton, 2005; VanSledright, 2011), we suggest providing context information prior to

conducting a close reading lyrical analysis. The following section is an example of the type of

information we recommend presenting to students to establish a historical lens for interpreting

Born in the U.S.A. (Springsteen, 1984). We share suggestions for additional resources and links

to content for further examination throughout the article.

Historical Context: Reelection, Recession and Reality of an Era

In the summer of 1984, patriotic and political overtones filled the air. The United States

was preparing to host the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Apple™ introduced the first

Macintosh™ computer, and portable CD players had just been introduced to the marketplace.

President Reagan, already deeply engaged in his reelection bid against Walter Mondale, used

campaign commercials to suggest a recovering and rising nation.

List plausible sources.


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Entrenched in an apprehensive posture many Americans, circa 1980, were anxious to see

if President Reagan could pull America from the worst economic crisis since the Great

Depression. Goods-producing industries like mining, construction, and manufacturing had been

hit hard. At that time, nearly eight million people were unemployed, which equated to 7.6

percent of the population; most of them were blue-collar workers (Westcott & Bendarzik, 1981).

By the end of 1983, 9.2 million people were unemployed (Becker & Bowers, 1984).

Governmental policies were slow in easing the burden, especially for blue-collar workers, who

also faced government cuts in welfare programs. As unemployment rose, some sensed the

President was insensitive to the economic struggles facing the working class, a point illuminated

in his comment to a reporter from The Daily Oklahoman, “Is it news that some fellow out in

South Succotash someplace has just been laid off, that he should be interviewed nationwide, or

someone’s complaint that the budget cuts are going to hurt their present program?” (Weisman,

1982, para. 3)

Bruce Springsteen was also making news in 1984. His Born in the U.S.A. (Springsteen,

1984) album debuted in June and quickly climbed the charts. The album cover pictured

Springsteen from behind wearing tattered Levis, a white t-shirt, and a faded red baseball cap

tucked into his back pocket. In spite of his All-American working class image and the perceived

surface level patriotic message of the album, Born in the U.S.A. (Springsteen, 1984) was not a

jingoistic anthem, and Springsteen certainly did not echo the president’s thoughts on the welfare

of the nation. Springsteen, America’s working class hero, now represented the sociopolitical

cultural zeitgeist for the 1980s. He sang about unemployment, heartache, hard times, and about

a nation that too often failed to support those who had given abundantly to their country. His

songs depicted the conditions for workers in every “South Succotash” (Baker, 1982, p. 12A)

across America who would not be in line for a new Macintosh™ or Sony™ Discman. In a direct

response to the President’s television ads, questioning his perception of the economic conditions

within the nation, Springsteen penned: “‘It’s morning in America’…it’s not morning in

Pittsburgh. It’s not morning above 125th Street in New York. It’s midnight, and like, there’s a

bad moon rising” (Loder, 1984, para. 9). These two opposing views on sociopolitical thought

would soon meet as the President’s reelection campaign and Springsteen’s Back in the U.S.A.

1984 tour crisscrossed America simultaneously.

The Born in the U.S.A. (Springsteen, 1984) album was a phenomenal success. Seven of

the songs eventually made it to number one on the Billboard chart and the album sold 20 million

copies. Most nights on tour, Springsteen and his E Street Band played to sold-out crowds packed

into professional football stadiums and other enormous venues. The shows, described as “equal

parts rock concert, spiritual revival, and nationalist rally” (Cowie & Boehm, 2006, p. 353),

featured a huge American flag serving as a backdrop for Springsteen who nightly led the crowd

in a fist-pumping, chorus chanting rendition of Born in the U.S.A. (Springsteen, 1984). The

portrayal of the song is not without ambiguity. The song was originally titled Vietnam, and was

inspired by Born on the Fourth of July (1976), a memoir of paralyzed Vietnam veteran Ron

Kovic. The song is narrated by a Vietnam veteran searching for work while he carries the pain

of losing his brother in the battle of Khe Sahn. Turned away from his hometown refinery as well

as the local Veterans' Administration Office, his reality is, despite serving his country and being

born in a perceived land of opportunity, he is faced with “nowhere to run and nowhere to go”


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(Springsteen, 1984). Even Springsteen’s portrayal of the song with a patriotic backdrop and flag

waving sing-alongs, heightened its ambiguity and misinterpretation.

Close Reading: Interpreting Born in the USA (Springsteen, 1984) as a Primary Source

Historians use close reading to examine the nuances of language and words within

sources. They slow down to closely scrutinize the author's use of language and the meaning of

words in the context of time and place. Historians connect information, make inferences,

compare and contrast ideas, and formulate hypotheses, which lead to plausible conclusions.

They employ thinking heuristics of sourcing, contextualizing, and corroborating as they engage

in close reading. These discipline-specific inquiry skills fit well with digital media, specifically

music. Music, likewise, is an interactive, multi-modal learning tool that is effective in teaching

historical inquiry. Questions we like to ask when close reading lyrics are: Who created the

song? What is the song’s structure? What is going on during the era in which the song was

released or gained popularity? What does the song mean? What can songs tell us about people

and society? The following chart (see Figure 4) models historical thinking heuristics with

evidence-based interpretations as derived from Text Chunking (Massey & Heafner, 2014) and a

close reading of Springsteen’s lyrics.

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

The song begins with a description of life in the narrator’s

decimated and gritty hometown where he fought for

everything he had. Since the 1970s, the United States has

lost manufacturing and industry jobs, working-class

positions that vanished without a chance for return. As

unemployment rose, downtowns became ghost towns, and

communities that were built around the local industry began

to slowly dissolve.

Born in the U.S.A.

I was born in the U.S.A.


Born in the U.S.A.

The patriotic fervor that characterizes the chorus is often

cited as the reason for the song’s frequent misinterpretation.

Being “Born in the U.S.A.” seems to imply perceived

benefits of American citizenship, a birthright of sorts. In a

2005 interview, Springsteen offered listeners some insight

to his songwriting, “If you look at all my songs…the

spiritual comes out in the choruses…and then the blues and

what the song is…are almost always contained in the

verses” (Davies, 2009).

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

In this verse, the narrator ends up on the wrong side of the

law and joins the army in lieu of going to jail, a common

option offered by the criminal justice system during the

Vietnam period. The nebulous references to “foreign land”

and “yellow man” appear to reflect the sentiment of the

nation at that time, that America was fighting an ill

conceived war against an undefined enemy, a world away

from home.

Born in the U.S.A.


The chorus continues as a constant protest; deeming the

cries of “I was born in the U.S.A.” insignificant due to a


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Figure 4. Close Reading Lyrical Analysis of "Born in the U.S.A."



Born in the U.S.A.

nation who had deserted those who served. Why would a

country turn its back on those who fought for its freedom?

What would have to happen to create this situation?

Come back home to the refinery

Hiring man says "Son if it was

up to me"

Went down to see my V.A. man

He said "Son, don't you

understand"

When the protagonist asks about a job at the local refinery,

he is treated with cold indifference. Next, his representative

at the local Veterans Administration office rebuffs his

attempts for assistance when the agency should have been

providing “institutional protection and aid within the

crumbling powers of the economy…” (Cowie and Boehm,

2006, p.366).

I had a brother at Khe Sahn

fighting off the Viet Cong

They're still there, he's all gone

This “damning assessment of the entire war’s futility”

(Kirkpatrick, 2007, p. 122) implies his brother’s death was

a worthless sacrifice because even though many gave their

lives, the North Vietnamese remained in power after the

war, in opposition to the Domino Theory espoused by

Eisenhower and subsequent administrations.

*Most military historians agree the People’s Army of

Vietnam (the North Vietnamese Army) fought at Khe Sahn,

not the Viet Cong.

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

Feeling abandoned by his country and the system of life he

fought to protect, the narrator is situated hypothetically

between the refinery and penitentiary, signifying the

distance between a job with a place in the community and a

life of crime driven by necessity. His inability to secure a

job a decade after his service leaves him desperate and

without viable options. Frith (2007) captured the essence of

this verse, “Springsteen’s songs are almost exclusively

concerned with the working class, with the effects of

poverty and uncertainty, the consequences of weakness and

crime; they travel through the murky reality of the

American dream…” (p. 251).

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.

Born in the U.S.A. paralleled the experiences Kovic and

other veterans lived following their return home. Their

country often shunned them instead of welcoming them

back as heroes like their World War II brethren. The

returning Vietnam soldiers were a constant reminder that

America had been involved in a complicated and

controversial war that ended without victory for the United

States. In the end, the song “questions the morality of the

war as well as the country’s treatment of its working-class

veterans” (Garman, 2000, p. 212).


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Music, which is both simultaneously representative of the past and present, can be closely

read to dive deeply into connotations within and beyond the text. Helping students understand

the cultural and historical context of a primary source through close reading and listening, in this

case, a politically charged song from the 1980s is an important inquiry process, which

incorporates sourcing, contextualization, and corroboration (Barton, 2005; Barton & Levstik,

2004; VanSledright, 2011; Wineburg, 2001). In the next sections, we unravel our application of

historical thinking to source, contextualize, and corroborate our close reading of Born in the

U.S.A. (Springsteen, 1984).

Sourcing: Understanding Misinterpretations

Even a cursory review of the lyrics listed above yields a clear and concise predicament of

the despair and anguish the returning veteran feels after putting his life on the line for his

country. Although the narrative is presented in a straightforward manner, Born in the U.S.A.

(Springsteen, 1984) has been one of Springsteen’s most misinterpreted songs. Springsteen and

his band enjoyed widespread success from performing Born in the U.S.A. (Springsteen, 1984),

but Springsteen’s songs are about the message, and he wants listeners to understand the meaning

behind the music. He explains, “A songwriter writes to be understood” (Springsteen, 1998, p.

164). Sourcing divulges important evidence listeners need to avoid misinterpreting artistic

motives.

Surveys have revealed most listeners fail to listen to the lyrics in their chosen music

(Massaro, 2008, p.20). Listeners may simply enjoy how a song makes them feel without regard

for the message within the lyrics. As Elizabeth Bird (1994) notes, “The overwhelming appeal of

rock music is not cerebral, but emotional; lyrics may be the key for some listeners, but for many

others appreciation is simply a matter of emotional response” (p. 45). Emotional appeal alone is

not enough when using music in the classroom; while valuable, listening to music coupled with

historical inquiry scaffolds more accurate interpretations. This is described in Bruce

VanSledright (2010) as “the constant interrogation of documents and their authors” (p. 114).

The potential for misinterpretation was acknowledged by Springsteen when he released

the pop hit: “In order to understand the song’s intent, you needed to invest a certain amount of

time and effort to absorb both the music and the words. But that’s not the way a lot of people use

pop music” (Springsteen, 1998, p.163). These comments advocate for time to slowly and

carefully examine lyrics, a process similar to the close reading approach we recommend

nevertheless, and Springsteen did not excuse those who failed to internalize the message within

the lyrics:

It’s not that people aren’t taught to think, but that they’re not taught to think hard enough.

Born in the USA is not ambiguous. All you got to do is listen to the verses. If you don’t

listen to the verses, you’re not gonna get the whole song; you’re just gonna get the chorus

(Springsteen, 1993, p. 38).

His words make a case for teaching historical inquiry through lyrical analysis and close reading

and listening. Exploring the ambiguity of his portrayal of the song in concert is yet another line

of inquiry worth noting. Additional learning pathways, such as this, lead to student-initiated

inquiry promoted in the C3 Framework, Partnership for 21st Century (P21) Skills, and CCSS.


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Contextualizing: Yankee Doodle Springsteen and A Flag-Waving Political Campaign

The conservative Washington Post columnist, George Will, was one of the millions to see

Springsteen and his E Street Band on the Born in the U.S.A. (Springsteen, 1984) tour. After

attending the concert in late August as a guest of E Street drummer Max Weinberg, he reflected

on the experience and wrote about it in his nationally syndicated column. His thoughts about the

concert, entitled “A Yankee Doodle Springsteen,” were published on September 13, 1984 (Will,

1984, p. A19), just two months prior to the presidential election. His is commentary began by

recognizing the onslaught of sights and sounds around him, “For the uninitiated, the sensory

blitzkrieg of a Springsteen concert is stunning” (Will, 2004, p.108). He continued with a

prophetic and ironic addition, “For the initiated, which included most of the 20,000 the night I

experienced him, the lyrics, believe it or not, are most important” (Will, 2004, p. 108). After

describing interactions with some of the younger concert attendees, Will continued his

misguided attempts to capture the essence of Springsteen’s message:

I have not got a clue about Springsteen’s politics, if any, but flags get waved at his

concerts while he sings songs about hard times. He is no whiner, and the recitation of

closed factories and other problems always seems punctuated by a grand, cheerful

affirmation: ‘Born in the USA!’ (Will, 2004, p. 108).

Will had clearly missed the message. Although his misperception of Springsteen’s work was not

uncommon, the American media illuminated it before the entire country.

A few weeks later, Mr. Reagan’s campaign contacted the promoter for Springsteen to

inquire about appearing together at a campaign event. Springsteen’s camp politely declined the

offer, stating he was unavailable during his tour. The Reagan campaign saw Springsteen as a

useful political asset specifically because the “ethnic working-class constituency” from which

Springsteen emerged, and chronicled in his music, served as the “keystone of Reagan’s electoral

coalition” (Cullen, 1997, p.4). The campaign decided to invoke Springsteen’s name on the

campaign trail anyway.

During a political rally in Hammonton, New Jersey on September 19, 1984, former

President Reagan sought to connect his reelection campaign to the iconic native son:

America’s future rests in a thousand dreams inside our hearts. It rests in the message of

hope so many young people admire: New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen. And helping

you make those dreams come true is what this job of mine is all about. (Connell, 1985, p.

15)

The President wanted to connect his campaign to Springsteen “not just because he was a ‘local

hero’ but because he was a pop culture icon who transcended localities – and voting-age

demographics” (Kirkpatrick, 2007, p. 136). The incident appeared to make little difference in

the fall election, producing a lopsided victory for the incumbent. This may have been because

Reagan had already developed into the “Teflon President” (a term coined Congresswoman,

Patricia Schroeder, c.f. Schroeder, 2004) who could successfully deflect negative press during

his tenure in the White House. More likely it was because most of the American public also

failed to understand Springsteen’s message within the song. Summing the irony of the situation

using one of Reagan’s famous movie personas, Adam Aliano (2011) reported, “George Gipp had

no clue that Bruce’s lyrics were about those whom the Reagan ‘revolution’ had left behind” (p.

14). U. S. citizens were so caught up in the rhetoric of the Reagan vision of America that they


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were unable to see the fallacies of the cultural idealism and capitalistic individualism (Troy,

2005).

Contextualizing: Understanding Springsteen through Cultural Influences and Experiences

In the context of the George Will and President Reagan examples detailed above, the

misperception of Springsteen’s lyrics could have been avoided if either of the men had taken the

opportunity to research the subject before commenting publicly. They might have discovered

what factors influenced Springsteen’s music. Investigations into what he read and how that

formed his opinions and his vision for America could have provided necessary context for a

more accurate interpretation. Sourcing, contextualizing and corroborating were essential skills

overlooked by Springsteen's contemporaries.

Springsteen has mentioned several books that have influenced his song writing and his

view of America. Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States, originally published in

1980, deviates from traditional American history texts, and shares the stories of those

marginalized by government and often omitted from traditional texts. Springsteen commented

on the book's influence:

It gave me a sense of myself in the context of this huge American experience and

empowered me to feel that in my small way, I had something to say, I could do

something. It made me feel a part of history, and gave me life as a participant (Levy,

2007, p. 177).

Springsteen's words and music have the capacity to empower students to believe their voices

matter, even if absent from the dominate culture textbook narrative (Epstein, Mayorga, &

Nelson, 2011; Hess, 2009).

Another book mentioned by Springsteen is the biography Woody Guthrie: A Life (Klein,

1980), which he claimed to read, especially while touring. Springsteen discussed the book’s

impact on him in concert, just before paying tribute to Guthrie by singing This Land is Your

Land (Guthrie, 1956). It is easy to identify parallels between the two artists. Guthrie and

Springsteen both suffered from misinterpretation of their music, [e.g., This Land is Your Land

(Guthrie, 1956) and Born in the U.S.A.(Springsteen, 1984)], both traveled across America

singing and serving as advocates for the common man, and each man had difficulties in his early

life that affected his subsequent experiences. Other books often cited by Springsteen include The

Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck, 1939), the Anthology of American Folk Music (Raim, 1973), and A

Pocket History of the United States (Nevins, Commager, & Morris, 1986), in addition to

literature by Percy Walker and Flannery O’ Connor. Born on the Fourth of July (1976), Ron

Kovic’s memoir detailing his startling experiences as a returning Vietnam veteran to an

unwelcome nation, served as the impetus for his work with the Vietnam Veterans Association

and for writing Born in the U.S.A. (Springsteen, 1984). Unraveling motives and influences

makes the artist's thinking approachable and impactful.

Springsteen spoke openly of his upbringing in a working-class home in Freehold, New

Jersey and about his father’s struggles to maintain steady employment. These childhood

experiences, his non-traditional education from the aforementioned books, and the music of

Hank Williams, Bob Seger, and others, shaped his view of America. In an interview with Ann

Powers (2012) of National Public Radio, Springsteen shared his obsession with the American


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dream and how his songs are often about “failure of the American dream and the trap it creates

for working people in an economically unjust society” (para. 5).

Springsteen’s “American Dream” is woven into his music, attire, and political beliefs,

and focuses on respect and equality. Unlike others who may espouse a capitalist driven

perspective on success, he notes that the American dream is not about getting rich, “… it was

that everyone was going to have an opportunity and the chance to live a life with some decency

and a chance for some self-respect” (Springsteen, 1993, p. 86). Although The Boss (a nickname

Springsteen earned from band members in the 1960’s) may have been the flag bearer for his

generation, preoccupation with this societal malady has included a parade of advocates in our

nation’s history. In the depths of the Great Depression, James Adams (1931) shared his vision

for an America based on equality:

… a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with

opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the

European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown

weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a

dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the

fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what

they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position (p. 214-215).

Music with counter narrative messages, as we have demonstrated with Springsteen, opens dialog

for confronting controversial issues while also creating space for a more inquiry-oriented,

culturally inclusive curriculum.

Corroborating: Relevance and Relationship to Present

If students are to understand the music they readily consume, an effort is needed to

comprehend the lyrics and historical context. The research base on Born in the U.S.A.

(Springsteen, 1984) is substantial but many songs are rarely, if ever, mentioned in the literature.

As 21st century learners and critical consumers of media, students must be able to organize and

to authenticate messages portrayed in contemporary society. Studying song lyrics as well as the

historical, socio-political, and economic variables of the time period (contemporary or historical)

will allow learners to develop their research skills in a self-directed, critical thought-based

project. The emphasis on close reading furthers discipline-specific thinking and has the capacity

to initiate questions. As students are drawn closely into lyrics they will begin to infer meaning

beyond the text. These inferences will need to be confirmed or challenged. This line of inquiry

will lead them to other sources. This next stage of historical thinking is corroboration.

In a recent interview, Springsteen spoke of his mother’s inspiring work ethic and how his

father’s intermittent employment caused problems within the household. He noted, “The lack of

work creates a loss of self,” and “Work creates an enormous sense of self” (Leopold, 2012). The

inability to either obtain or keep a job that can support a family and bring self-respect is a

common theme within his music. In his more recent We Take Care of Our Own (Springsteen,

2012) song, Springsteen’s narrator asks, “Where’s the work that’ll set my hands, my soul free”

and later, “Where’s the promise, from sea to shining sea” implying, as he did in Born in the

U.S.A. (Springsteen, 1984), that there is a birthright, an expectation we should have as

Americans for an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work. These unresolved themes are

pervasive in Springsteen’s most recent album, High Hopes (Springsteen, 2014). The chorus of

the title song calls out for help, strength, and hope that life can be better than the oppressive


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reality that smothers love, dreams and peace. Springsteen’s overtly political message pervades

his songwriting and in part, contributes to his lasting popularity.

The theme of relocating industry and outsourcing jobs is a topic ripe for historical inquiry

and filled with contemporary connections, well-articulated goals of the Common Core (National

Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of State School Officers, 2010), C3

Framework (NCSS, 2013), Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2009). One recent publication

noted, “Springsteen’s songs offer complex narratives of working-class experiences in a changing

U.S. economy” (Poll, 2012, p. 245). The economy is shifting, and the victim in much of this

restructuring has been the working class. Local economies are collapsing after industry leaves,

and often Springsteen’s music is one of the only voices of the displaced workers who suffer due

to the perceived greed of global capitalism. The expectation of being a company man like

preceding generations at the local plant has been altered due to the shifting landscape. In the

new postindustrial economy, workers are seen as disposable, local economies as interchangeable,

and profitability as the definition of and motivation for success. With these changes, “the dream

of economic stability, of a comfortable working-class life, of a future with promising

possibilities, dissolves” (Poll, 2012, p. 250).

A study of shifting American business practices and the effects they have on the

economy—especially working class constituents—would allow students to create a useful

context for evaluating and analyzing these and other lyrics related to the topic. Questions

emerge from content explorations and questions lead to more questions. What rights do we

inherently share as Americans? Who speaks for American workers? Is the American dream just

an illusion? Springsteen’s music has addressed these questions in-depth over the years.

Essentially, he asks, “What does it mean to be an American?” and, “Does it mean being born to

birthrights of freedom, opportunity, equity and bounty? If so, then what does it mean that many

of the country’s citizens never truly receive these blessings?” (Gilmore, 1990, p. 82).

Although Born in the U.S.A. (Springsteen, 1984) is a generation old, the themes

embedded within the lyrics could be pulled from current headlines. The timeless quality of the

music and the replication of some social and economic conditions easily allow educators to

facilitate a discussion about competing historical narratives within the mid-eighties as well as

contemporary society. The essence of this comparison is found in Jefferson Cowie and Lauren

Boehm (2006):

The withering of the economic dimensions of class, the destruction and demoralization of

the politics of place, the betrayal of institutions designed to protect workers, and the

amplification and mobilization of cultural nationalism to make it all palatable, have only

increased since the pop hit dominated the airwaves in the middle of the Reagan years (p.

373).

Examining the 1980s illuminates how contemporary society, political culture, and American

culture have been and continued to be shaped and distorted.

“Morning in America”, Ronald’ Reagan’s television advertisement, which was also

considered the legacy of the 1980s, was representative of an era of great idealism in which

rhetoric created a perception of a thriving economy, patriotic nation, and capitalistic supremacy.

Exploring how Reaganism trumped national myopia embodied in the working class songs of the

1980s, like Born in the U.S.A. (Springsteen, 1984), makes for an intriguing historical inquiry that

promotes rigor, relevance and relational connections to the present. Reaganism is the


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conservative ideology put forth by the Reagan administration promoting American nationalism,

small government, reduced taxes, national sovereignty, and pride in America. Other songs from

the 1980’s that portray American social and economic decline or characterize the voice of

resistance on socio-political issues include Billy Joel’s Allentown (1982), John Mellencamp’s

Rain on the Scarecrow (1985), Bonzo goes to Bitburg (1985) by The Ramones, and Stop the

Violence (1989) by KRS-One. Lyrics from these tracks present a contrast to sources supporting

the Reagan vision of America (see Ronald Reagan’s defining vision for the 1980s—and

America). Morning in America: How Ronald Reagan Invented the 1980s (Troy, 2005), provides

a comprehensive source for educators. Similar historical inquiries to that of Born in the U.S.A.

could easily facilitate corroboration of ideas that embody the dichotomy of working class

experiences and the legacy of 1980’s American culture. These inquiry pathways lead to new

questions and ultimately new quests for knowledge.

Conclusion

Social studies content is more meaningful when it is presented in a relevant, emotional

and entertaining manner. As Whitmer (2005) suggests, “Using music as a means to

communicate knowledge is particularly effective because the emotional content music carries

will often ensure that the information will be remembered quickly and more completely”

(Whitmer, 2005, p. 5). The sensory, seductive power of music can engage students in historical

thinking (Mangram & Weber, 2012; Martens, 1925; Pellegrino & Lee, 2012; Root, 2005; White

& McCormack, 2006) and engender multi-media skills (Framework for 21st Century Learning,

2009). Even political contemporaries of Springsteen would have benefited from taking the time

to research the narrative of song.

Music is distinguished from most primary sources because music possesses a life of its

own, one that stands apart from time and yet remains within its time. "Songs can illuminate our

understanding of history of the American people better than any other vehicle because they carry

with them sentiments that can be expressed in multiple ways” (Whitmer, 2005, p. 9). Music's

sensory appeal can bring to life socio-economic and class inequalities, controversial topics

avoided in the social studies classroom (Hess, 2009). With music, students can learn to become

critical consumers of information (Framework for 21st Century Learning, 2009) and recognize

political-cultural influences inherent within media. Music harnesses emotive benefits

(Logeswaran, & Bhattacharya, 2009) and develops historical inquiry skills (Heafner, Groce,

Bellows, 2014; Pellegrino & Lee, 2012). It intuitively engages all learners and is fertile ground

for developing inquiry, exploring controversial issues, and creating culturally inclusive curricula

(Barton, 2005; Barton & Levstik, 2004; Brkich, 2012; Epstein, Mayorga, & Nelson, 2011; Hess,

2009; Root, 2005; VanSledright, 2011; White & McCormack, 2006; Wineburg, 2001). Music is

an interactive, multi-sensory learning tool that leads students to think more deeply (and

historically) about content. The knowledge, skills, and dispositions developed through musically

supported historical thinking effectively support the goals and purpose of the social studies.

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Author Bios

Tina L. Heafner is a professor in the Department of Middle, Secondary, and K-12 Education at

the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Email: [email protected]

Eric C. Groce is an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at

Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.

Elizabeth Bellows is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at


Alicia Finnell is an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum & Instruction at


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