General Reaction
"Born in the U.S.A." peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts in late 1984. It was the third of a record-tying seven Top 10 hit singles to be released from the Born in the U.S.A. album. In addition it made the top 10 of Billboard's Rock Tracks chart, indicating solid play on album-oriented rock stations. The song was also a hit in the UK, reaching #5 on the UK Singles Chart.
Beyond the 1984 presidential campaign, "Born in the U.S.A." was widely mis-interpreted as purely nationalistic by those who heard the anthemic chorus but not the bitter verses. One example was when Springsteen played the song live in East Berlin in 1988 and the German audience widely followed the chorus line to express their bonds with the western world and their weariness with their own way of life in the communist system of the GDR.
Springsteen refused Chrysler Corporation CEO Lee Iacocca's request to use "Born in the U.S.A." in commercials for Chrysler cars, turning down an offer that would have been worth several million dollars.
Read more about this topic: Born In The U.S.A. (song)
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