Election '08 - The Musical II: Electric Boogaloo

I'm again watching coverage of the Democratic Convention as they lead up to Senator Obama's appearance tonight. I can hear them playing Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA over the loudspeakers. Some would say it's a no-brainer choice for a political rally, it certainly gets adopted by politicians often enough. All this tells me is that these people don't listen to any of the lyrics beyond the chorus. Let's take a look at them:

Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
You end up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up

Pretty bleak, right? Not exactly the patriotic anthem the chorus:

Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.

would lead you to believe.

Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man

Oh, but wait, even better, it's about Vietnam. So far we've got urban decay, hopelessness, and an unmitigated foreign policy disaster. How uplifting.

Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.

On the other hand, this is a message that the Obama campaign probably wants to stress, what with the right trying to insinuate that he's vaguely foreign and a secret Muslim.

Come back home to the refinery

Oh, hey, oil policy. I guess that's sort of topical.

Hiring man says "Son if it was up to me"

Bad economic conditions, okay that's pretty current as well.

Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "Son, don't you understand"

And inadequate Veteran's benefits. Okay, the song's still depressing as hell, but I think I'm starting to see a secret strategy behind using it.

I had a brother at Khe Sahn fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone

Pointlessness of war. The punches keep coming. It's like a laundry list of sins of the previous administration and reasons to vote for Obama. I can't wait to see what's next.

He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now

Yeah, okay. You lost me again.

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go

And we're back to unrepentantly bleak and hopeless. We were on a roll there for a while, but I'm afraid we've lost the momentum.

Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.

I'm not sure what "I'm a long gone Daddy" means, but it can't be a particularly good message for a political candidate to embrace.

Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A.
I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.

Here at the end, however, I think we've found the new campaign slogan: "Barak Obama, I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A."