Born down in a dead man's town The first kick I took was when I hit the ground End up like a dog that's been beat too much 'Til you spend half your life just to cover it up, now 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., now Got in a little hometown jam So they put a rifle in my hand Send me off to a foreign land To go and kill the yellow man Born in the U.S.A. I was born in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A. I was born in the U.S.A. Born in the U.S.A. Come back home to the refinery Hiring man says, "son, if it was up to me" Went down to see my V.A. man He said, "son, don't you understand, now?" I had a brother at Khe Sahn, fighting off the Vietcong They're still there, he's all gone He had a woman he loved in Saigon I got a picture of him in her arms, now 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 Born in the U.S.A. I was born in the U.S.A., now Born in the U.S.A. I'm a long gone daddy in the U.S.A., now 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., now