My Hometown

Springsteen, Bruce. "My Hometown." By Bruce Springsteen. Rec. 04 June 1984. Born in the USA. Sony.

I was eight years old and running with a dime in my hand
Into the bus stop to pick up a paper for my old man
I'd sit on his lap in that big old Buick and steer as we drove through town
He'd tousle my hair, say son take a good look around this is your hometown
This is your hometown, This is your hometown, This is your hometown

In `65 tension was running high at my high school
There was a lot of fights between the black and white
There was nothing you could do
Two cars at a light on a Saturday night in the back seat there was a gun
Words were passed in a shotgun blast
Troubled times had come to my hometown
My hometown, My hometown, My hometown

Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your hometown
Your hometown, Your hometown, Your hometown

Last night me and Kate we laid in bedtalking about getting out
Packing up our bags maybe heading south
I'm thirty-five we got a boy of our own now
Last night I sat him up behind the wheel and said son take a good look around
This is your hometown


The song My Hometown by Bruce Springsteen is one of the few songs I have heard that directly deals with the issue of racial tension and violence.

The song is very simplistic, and is devoid of the wailing guitars and staccato drum beats typical to Springsteen’s catalogue. With a feeling of innocence and delicateness, he tells a story about the lives of average people living in New Jersey cities like Bayonne, Trenton, and Asbury Park. The second verse is where Springsteen confronts head on racial tensions of the mid 1960’s. He states that fights between black and whites were common in his High School, and even alludes to exchanges of gunfire. The verse includes a definitive statement that any intervention was indeed futile.

I am struck by all the elements present in this song that influence race. The irrationalism of youth, the struggle of classes, economic factors such as excess labor in a depressed economy, as well as the power of tradition and upbringing are all present in this fine ballad.

The song connects to any number of different pieces of coursework. The lyrics and Takaki’s “the giddy multitude” chapter remind me of the way the ethnic groups react in a tight labor market where jobs are scarce as detailed in verse three. The first person narrative reminds me of the way Kindred was written, and just as the book was a window to life in the 1800’s this song is a window to life in the 1960’s. I am also reminded by the last verse of Johnson’s fundamental reasoning for privilege or lack there of. The family clearly was of without much privilege, and was forced to deal with the circumstances as best as they could.

I really enjoy Springsteen’s commentary on social issues. He is remarkably talented at presenting complex issues in simple and easy to understand ways. Beyond the single My Hometown, Springsteen devotes entire albums like Nebraska and the Ghost of Tom Joad to dealing with social and ethnic injustice, and I challenge anyone to listen to the lyrics of Born in the USA and explain why the song was hailed as a patriotic anthem.