Listeners often mistake Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. for a blindly patriotic album. When examined at surface level, it's easy to see why. Born in the U.S.A. released in 1984, in the middle of the Reagan era. Patriotism was at an all-time high, but Springsteen had his mind on the Vietnam War and its repercussions. When I first listened to Born in the U.S.A., I wondered how "pro-America" the album actually is. I dissected the album, and isolated its nouns, verbs, and adjectives to find out. After counting all of the individual words, I separated my analysis by major themes (themes present in half, or more than half, of the tracklist), and minor themes (themes present in less than half of the tracklist). Born in the U.S.A. seems to be a unique case, in that all of the themes I discovered were major themes. I found nine themes in Born in the U.S.A.: Time, Family, Home, Decline, Travel, Destruction/Violence, Humanity, Labor, and Americana. Below, you'll find Born in the U.S.A.'s tracklist, and my analysis of the album. Tracklist: Time: 12/12 songs (Darlington County, Working on the Highway, Downbound Train, I'm on Fire, No Surrender, I'm Goin' Down, Dancing in the Dark, My Hometown, Cover Me, Bobby Jean, Glory Days, Born in the U.S.A.)
Family: 10/12 songs (Cover Me, I'm on Fire, No Surrender, Bobby Jean, I'm Goin' Down, Dancing in the Dark, Born in the U.S.A., Working on the Highway, My Hometown, Glory Days)
Home: 10/12 songs (Born in the U.S.A., Working on the Highway, Downbound Train, I'm on Fire, No Surrender, I'm Goin' Down, Dancing in the Dark, Glory Days, My Hometown, Bobby Jean)
Decline: 10/12 songs (Born in the U.S.A., Darlington County, Working on the Highway, Downbound Train, No Surrender, I'm Goin' Down, Glory Days, My Hometown, Cover Me, Dancing in the Dark)
Travel: 10/12 songs (Born in the U.S.A., Downbound Train, I'm on Fire, My Hometown, Cover Me, Darlington County, I'm Goin' Down, Working on the Highway, Bobby Jean, Glory Days)
Destruction/Violence: 10/12 songs (Born in the U.S.A., I'm on Fire, No Surrender, I'm Goin' Down, Dancing in the Dark, Cover Me, Bobby Jean, Darlington County, Working on the Highway, My Hometown)
Humanity: 10/12 songs (Cover Me, Darlington County, Working on the Highway, Downbound Train, Bobby Jean, Dancing in the Dark, Born in the U.S.A., No Surrender, Glory Days, I'm on Fire)
Labor: 8/12 songs (Darlington County, Working on the Highway, Downbound Train, I'm Goin' Down, Glory Days, Born in the U.S.A., Dancing in the Dark, My Hometown)
Americana: 6/12 songs (Born in the U.S.A., Darlington County, Working on the Highway, Downbound Train, Glory Days, My Hometown)
Most Thematic Song(s): "Born in the U.S.A." and "Working on the Highway" are tied for Most Thematic Song, with both containing all 9 themes. Least Thematic Song(s): "Cover Me," "I'm on Fire," "No Surrender," and "Bobby Jean" are tied for Least Thematic Song, with each containing 6 of the 9 themes. Final Thoughts: After analyzing the album, I was surprised by how sad it is. Every character in Born in the U.S.A. seems to have lost something or someone, whether it be a fellow soldier, lover, or even youth. They all search for something to mask that loss. Returning soldiers are begging for jobs, but can't find any. Well-meaning troublemakers end up in cuffs on the fenders of police cruisers. No matter what the characters do, they can't change their lot in life, and they can't change time. Yet, they try. In that way, Born in the U.S.A. is brutally American. It doesn't just celebrate America for being America. It celebrates the people of America, and their everyday struggle to get by.
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In 1991, Nirvana's Nevermind changed the music landscape. The album fused hard rock with pop sensibilities, and catapulted Nirvana to super-stardom. Songs like "Smells like Teen Spirit," and "Come as You Are" became smash hits. The average music fan probably knows those songs, but what is Kurt Cobain saying on the rest of Nevermind? I dissected the album, and isolated its nouns, verbs, and adjectives to find out. After counting all of the individual words, I separated my analysis by major themes (themes present in half, or more than half, of the tracklist), and minor themes (themes present in less than half of the tracklist). I discovered 8 themes in Nevermind: Family/Relationships; Sickness/Health; Nature; Religion; Anatomy/Body; Death; Memory; and Weapons. Below, you will find Nevermind's tracklist, and my analysis of the album.
Tracklist: 1. "Smells like Teen Spirit" 2. "In Bloom" 3. "Come as You Are" 4. "Breed" 5. "Lithium" 6. "Polly" 7. "Territorial Pissings" 8. "Drain You" 9. "Lounge Act" 10. "Stay Away" 11. "On a Plain" 12. "Something in the Way" 13. "Endless, Nameless" Major Themes: Family/Relationships; Sickness/Health; Nature; Religion; Anatomy/Body. Family/Relationships: 12/13 songs (Lithium; Territorial Pissings; Stay Away; On a Plain; Smells like Teen Spirit; Come as You Are; Lounge Act; Breed; Endless, Nameless; In Bloom; Something in the Way; Drain You)
Sickness/Health: 9/13 songs (Come as You Are; Breed; Drain You; Stay Away; In Bloom; Polly; Smells like Teen Spirit; On a Plain; Something in the Way)
Nature: 9/13 songs (Drain You; Polly; Smells like Teen Spirit; In Bloom; Come as You Are; Breed; On a Plain; Something in the Way; Stay Away)
Minor Themes: Death; Memory; Weapons Death: 6/13 songs (Stay Away; On a Plain; Endless, Nameless; Smells like Teen Spirit; Drain You; Lithium)
Most Thematic Song: "Smells like Teen Spirit" contains all of Nevermind's 8 themes. Based on my research, I believe this song to be emblematic of the album as a whole. Least Thematic Song: "Territorial Pissings" contains 1 of Nevermind's 8 themes (Family/Relationships). Thematically, this song appears to be the least important. Final Thoughts: Despite Kurt Cobain's ambivalence towards his lyrics, I think my data shows his songs portray consistent themes throughout Nevermind. Based on the aggressive sound of Nevermind, I was surprised to find themes of love and friendship in so many of the songs. Stray Observations:
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