How "Born in the U.S.A" Became Springsteen's Magnum Opus

Since today is Independence Day in the States, I've decided to do an article on Bruce Springsteen's 1984 best-selling album Born in the U.S.A.

Fresh from making Nebraska, the darkly album that started out as a demo album, Springsteen was asked by Paul Schrader to compose music for his film Born in the U.S.A. After this, Springsteen had already completed "Vietnam" for Nebraska but decided against adding the song for the album as the song was less darker than the other songs. Soon after this, the film was put on hold and Springsteen decided to do an album inspired by the film's title, which the album would have a patriotic concept. 

Recording of the album unofficially began on January 1982, when Springsteen decided to add the Nebraska outtake "Cover Me" and "I'm on Fire" to the then-developed album. Springsteen officially began recording the album with his band The E Street Band in The Power Station during April, recording the songs "Born in the U.S.A." (an outtake of Nebraska), "Darlington County", "Working on the Highway" (based on the Nebraska demo "Child Bride"), "Downbound Train" (another outtake of Nebraska), "I'm Goin' Down" and "Glory Days".

By mid-1982, the album was recorded over three months before Nebraska was released. In May 1983, Springsteen relocated to The Hit Factory, recording the song "My Hometown". During the final months of recording, he recorded "No Surrender" and "Bobby Jean". 

Just before the album had finished recording in time for the release, Springsteen recorded "Dancing in the Dark". Originally "No Surrender" was not going to be in the album, however Springsteen changed his mind.

The album officially became the first compact disc album to be made in the United States as previous CD releases from Springsteen's label Columbia were imported from Japan.

The album was promoted with the lead single "Dancing in the Dark", released on May 4, 1984. The single became an instant hit and became a number two hit in his native United States. The album officially came out exactly a month later debuting at #9 in the US, then quickly topped on July 7, only to be slid to #2 in the following August. After spending 18 weeks at number 2, the album topped the charts for three weeks, making it his most successful album and one of the best selling albums of all time.

The second single "Cover Me" was released on late July and peaked at #7 in the USA. "Born in the U.S.A" became another hit, peaked at #9. "I'm on Fire" and "Glory Days" also became Top 10 hits, peaking at #6 and #5 respectively. The following two singles, "I'm Goin' Down" and "My Hometown", despite a lack of a music video, peaked at #9 and #6 respectively. "No Surrender" peaked at #40 in the mainstream rock charts. Remixes of "Dancing in the Dark" and "Cover Me" peaked at #7 and #11 in the dance charts, respectively.

The album stayed in the Top 10 for 84 consecutive weeks, which satisfied Springsteen. The music videos from the album also became popular too. The album recieved critical praise and has been considered by some critics as one of the greatest albums of all time.

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