hypersongs

My Hometown

The closing track of Born in the U.S.A. and a single in November 1985 that reached number 6 on the Hot 100.
Bruce Springsteen, from Born in the U.S.A. (1985)

Springsteen wrote it and recorded it on June 29, 1983 at The Hit Factory in New York, produced by Jon Landau, Chuck Plotkin, Springsteen and Steven Van Zandt. He sings and plays guitars, with Roy Bittan on synthesizer, Clarence Clemons on tambourine, Danny Federici on organ, Garry Tallent on bass, Max Weinberg on drums and Ruth Jackson on backing vocals. It runs 4:33 on the album and 4:10 as the single edit. The lyric moves from a father's pride in the hometown to the racial violence and economic depression the speaker saw growing up, and ends with his plan to move his family away; it draws on Freehold, New Jersey and the Karagheusian Rug Mill.

The single came out on November 21, 1985 on Columbia with a live "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town" from December 12, 1975 at C. W. Post College on the B-side. It reached 6 on the Hot 100, 1 on Adult Contemporary, 9 in the UK and 6 in Ireland, and is Platinum in the US. Cash Box called it a tender and somber look at the real American hometown. The official video is made of live footage from a late Born in the U.S.A. tour concert. U2 played it live in 1985, Neil Young covered it on A Letter Home (2014) and Pavel Bobek recorded a Czech version in 1988.

Covers and versions

  • Neil Young (2014) On A Letter Home.
  • Pavel Bobek (1988) A Czech version.

More songs by Bruce Springsteen

Born to Run, Nebraska, Born in the U.S.A., Thunder Road, Darkness on the Edge of Town, Jungleland, State Trooper, Wreck on the Highway, Stolen Car, Racing in the Street, Open All Night, The River

Sources

  1. My Hometown, Wikipedia