Interesting side note, at a concert, Bruce was talking about Ronald Reagan talking about "Born in the USA" as a source of American pride, even though the whole song is about how badly we messed up in Vietnam, Bruce said at the concert, "I don't think Ronny's listening" and then played this song. Basically this song is Bruce's ode to the loss of blue collar jobs, something that Reaganomics did plenty too help with later on. Ralph/Johnny loses his job, can't afford to support his family or even keep his house, gets drunk, loses it, and shoots a night clerk.
Interesting side note, at a concert, Bruce was talking about Ronald Reagan talking about "Born in the USA" as a source of American pride, even though the whole song is about how badly we messed up in Vietnam, Bruce said at the concert, "I don't think Ronny's listening" and then played this song. Basically this song is Bruce's ode to the loss of blue collar jobs, something that Reaganomics did plenty too help with later on. Ralph/Johnny loses his job, can't afford to support his family or even keep his house, gets drunk, loses it, and shoots a night clerk.