Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA is one of the best-selling albums of all time. The seventh single from the album, and incidentally the seventh in a row to reach the top 10, a record at the time, was “My Hometown.” Alongside songs such as Dancing in the Dark, I’m on Fire, Glory Days, and Born in the U.S.A., “My Hometown” formed the brilliance of Springsteen’s highly acclaimed seventh studio album.
But what’s the story behind “My Hometown”? And what meaning does the song carry? Let’s find out!
The Story Behind the Song
The album Born in the USA was recorded over a 2-year period, from 1982 to 1984. Springsteen, a devoted songwriter, ended up with a repertoire of about 80 songs to choose from. Songs that were mostly written around the same time as his previous album Nebraska. Springsteen even toyed with the idea of releasing Nebraska and Born in the USA as a double album. But the styles of the albums were too different, and the plan was abandoned quickly.
But releasing a double album would not have been an illogical idea. The themes of Nebraska and Born in the USA (songs about the blue-collar working class) were initially very similar. Springsteen even considered Born in the USA an electrified version of Nebraska at first.
The best example of an electrified Nebraska was the song “My Hometown.” A partially autobiographical song about the working class with references to experiences Springsteen had in his ‘Hometown’ Freehold, NJ. Together with the title song “Born in the USA”, it formed the basis for the album.
But electrifying Nebraska didn’t work out as Springsteen had hoped. And besides the theme songs “My Hometown” and “Born in the USA”, the album became more of a collection of Springsteen’s best work.
The album was finally released in 1984, and became a huge success. “My Hometown” was not released as a single until November 1985. It was Born in the USA’s seventh single, and like the previous 6, reached the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album eventually sold more than 30 million copies.
The Meaning of My Hometown
Bruce Springsteen’s “My Hometown” delves into the social uproar of the 1960s and 1980s, and the confliction it caused to a young man’s hometown pride. The song is partially fictional and partially autobiographical.
In Springsteen’s autobiography Songs, he wrote: “My Hometown’ was based on childhood memories of driving down Main Street on my dad’s lap, the closing of a local mill, and a racial incident that occurred near my house in Freehold during my adolescence.”
In the first verse, a father takes his son for a ride around town. He tells him that this is his hometown, a place he should be proud of.
But the boy’s pride is shattered quickly. Because the second verse dives into a racial incident that occurred in Springsteen’s hometown Freehold, where two black men were shot in their cars. Apparently, this was the boy’s hometown too.
In the song’s bridge, Springsteen jumps to the recession of the early 1980s. A period when small towns were hit hard and many families faced unemployment. In the song, Springsteen talks about an incident in his hometown again, where a textile mill closed down. Apparently, this could happen to a boy’s hometown too.
In the last verse, the boy has become a man. He is now 35 and has a family. Together with his wife he discusses leaving his hometown. But not before he takes his son for a ride, just as his father did with him, and installs hometown pride into him. It exposes that the man, despite the tragic incidents, still feels a sense of pride for his hometown.
during the Springsteen On Broadway concert, Springsteen said about the song: “Everybody has a love/hate relationship with their hometown. It’s just built into the equation of growing up.”
Interested in more stories behind Bruce Springsteen songs? Click here
