BORN IN THE U.S.A. 
Live 08 Dec 1995 version
[Spoken intro:] Uh, this is a song that uh, I read a lot it has been misunderstood. And uh, and so I'm sure it's only misunderstood by these goddamn republicans, alright? I'm sure we don't have any republicans tonight. But uh, uh... Democrats got a bunch of ??? too, I know, it shouldn't ???. But uh... If so, I guess sorta've been the tradition of, you know, "Louie Louie," "This Land Is Your Land," uh... And, I mean I'm sure that everybody here tonight got it. And uh, if not, if it's... if there's any misunderstandings out there, all I can say is my children thank you. Because that's where the big money comes from. But uh... but the songwriter always gets in, he gets in the last show and so, let me see if I can get it right this time.
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
I was born in the U.S.A.
I got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go, to go and kill the yellow man
Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says, "Son if it was up to me"
I went down to see V.A. man
He said, "Son don't you understand"
I had a brother at Khe Sahn fighting off them 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
Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Got nowhere to run, nowhere to go
Info
The above lyrics are for the live 08 Dec 1995 performance of BORN IN THE U.S.A. at Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA, during The Ghost Of Tom Joad Solo Acoustic Tour.
Ticket stub for the 08 Dec 1995 show at Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA
Columbia Records Radio Hour
A selection of four studio tracks from The Ghost Of Tom Joad album (see track list below) intercepted with interview segments with journalist Bob Costas were originally broadcast on the 21 Nov 1995 edition of the syndicated Columbia Records Radio Hour radio show which aired on U.S. album oriented rock stations. Costas conducted the interview with Bruce Springsteen that same day (21 Nov 1995) either prior to or following Springsteen's public warm-up show at the State Theater in New Brunswick, NJ. A total of 35 minutes of the 90-minute interview were used in the radio show.
Additionally, three songs from Springsteen's 08 Dec 1995 show and seven from his 09 Dec 1995 show at Upper Darby's Tower Theater (see track list below) were broadcast on the 14 Dec 1995 edition of the Columbia Records Radio Hour radio show.
The complete Columbia Records Radio Hour show was officially issued in December 1995 on cassette and reel-to-reel tapes for promotional use in the United States. Six of the ten live tracks from part 2 of the radio show (the 14 Dec 1995 broadcast) were never made available in commercial form.
Bruce Springsteen -- Columbia Records Radio Hour Part 1 & 2
MC - Columbia (CAT 7698) - USA, 1995
This Promotion-only cassette tape contains both part 1 (the 21 Nov 1995 broadcast) and part 2 (the 14 Dec 1995 broadcast) of the radio show.
Side A: part 1
Side B: part 2
Bruce Springsteen -- Columbia Records Radio Hour - Bruce Springsteen Interviewed By Bob Costas
MC - NOW! Recording Systems (no catalog number) - USA, 1995
This promotion-only cassette tape contains part 1 of the radio show (the 21 Nov 1995 broadcast).
Side A: part 1
Side B: blank
Bruce Springsteen -- Columbia Records Radio Hour - Bruce Springsteen Interviewed By Bob Costas
MC - NOW! Recording Systems (no catalog number) - USA, 1995
This promotion-only cassette tape contains part 1 of the radio show (the 21 Nov 1995 broadcast), with commercials.
Side A: part 1
Side B: blank
Bruce Springsteen -- Columbia Records Radio Hour - Bruce Springsteen Live From The Tower Theatre In Philadelphia
MC - NOW! Recording Systems (no catalog number) - USA, 1995
This promotion-only cassette tape contains part 2 of the radio show (the 14 Dec 1995 broadcast), with commercials.
Side A: part 2
Side B: blank
Bruce Springsteen -- Columbia Records Radio Hour - Bruce Springsteen Interviewed By Bob Costas
Reel-to-reel - Columbia (no catalog number) - USA, 1995
This promotion-only reel-to-reel tape contains part 1 of the radio show (the 21 Nov 1995 broadcast), with commercials. This is one of two reel-to-reel tapes that were distributed together but each was housed in a separate box. These are 10.5-inch reels with 1/2" tape, with a running speed of 7.5 ips.
Bruce Springsteen -- Columbia Records Radio Hour - Bruce Springsteen Live From The Tower Theatre In Philadelphia
Reel-to-reel - Columbia (no catalog number) - USA, 1995
This promotion-only reel-to-reel tape contains part 2 of the radio show (the 14 Dec 1995 broadcast), with commercials. This is one of two reel-to-reel tapes that were distributed together but each was housed in a separate box. These are 10.5-inch reels with 1/2" tape, with a running speed of 7.5 ips.
Part 2 of the Columbia Records Radio Hour radio show (the 14 Dec 1995 broadcast) was commercially released in Europe. Since 2005 some enterprising record labels in Europe (mostly in the UK) have been releasing Bruce Springsteen radio and TV broadcasts (and some soundboard recordings) from the seventies, eighties, and nineties. Though these releases are not authorized by Bruce Springsteen or his record company, they are lawful due to a legal loophole in Europe.
Bruce Springsteen -- 1995 Radio Hour - The Tom Joad Sessions
CD - Good Ship Funke (GSF020) - UK, 2016
This release contains the 14 Dec 1995 broadcast of the Columbia Records Radio Hour radio show.
Bruce Springsteen -- Upper Darby Theater '95
CD - Rox Vox (RVCD2045) - UK, 2016
This release contains the 14 Dec 1995 broadcast of the Columbia Records Radio Hour radio show.
Bruce Springsteen -- Columbia Records Radio Hour
Digital album - Lilith Records (no catalog number) - UK, 2016
This is a download-only digital album. It contains the 14 Dec 1995 broadcast of the Columbia Records Radio Hour radio show.
Bruce Springsteen -- 1995 Radio Hour - The Tom Joad Sessions
2xLP - Parachute Recording Company (PARA155LP) - UK, 2018
This release contains the 14 Dec 1995 broadcast of the Columbia Records Radio Hour radio show.
Bruce Springsteen -- Youngstown
LP - Roxborough Music (ROXMB018) - UK, 2018
This release contains the 14 Dec 1995 broadcast of the Columbia Records Radio Hour radio show.
Bruce Springsteen -- The Broadcast Collection 1975-1995
5xCD - Cult Legends (CL93154) - Europe, 2023
This release contains the 05 Feb 1975 broadcast from The Main Point, the 15 Dec 1978 broadcast from Winterland Ballroom, and the 14 Dec 1995 broadcast of the Columbia Records Radio Hour radio show.
Available Versions
List of available versions of BORN IN THE U.S.A. on this website:
BORN IN THE U.S.A. [Album version]
BORN IN THE U.S.A. [Official studio version]
BORN IN THE U.S.A. [Live 05 Aug 1984 version]
BORN IN THE U.S.A. [Live 13 Oct 1986 version]
BORN IN THE U.S.A. [Live 23 Apr 1988 version]
BORN IN THE U.S.A. [Live 08 Dec 1995 version]
BORN IN THE U.S.A. [Live 09 Dec 1995 version]
BORN IN THE U.S.A. [Live 19 Apr 1996 version]
BORN IN THE U.S.A. [Live 08 Dec 1998 version]
BORN IN THE U.S.A. [Live 09 Dec 1998 version]
BORN IN THE U.S.A. [Live 11 Dec 1998 version]
BORN IN THE U.S.A. [Live 14 Dec 1998 version]
BORN IN THE U.S.A. [Live 11 Nov 2014 version]
BORN IN THE U.S.A. [Live July 2018 version]
Page last updated: 05 Dec 2017
