Bruce Springsteen Opens Up About Doubts Over Iconic Album 'Born in the U.S.A.'

Published: June 24, 2025

Bruce Springsteen, the 20-time Grammy winner, has revealed that he had doubts about his hit album 'Born in the U.S.A.' in a recent interview.

The legendary musician spoke candidly about the 1984 project, admitting that it "was not necessarily" the record he "had planned on" making.

Bruce Springsteen on stage in Philadelphia in 1984

Springsteen, 75, spoke to Rolling Stone ahead of the release of his upcoming seven-album compilation, Tracks II: The Lost Albums, which includes music recorded between 1983 and 2018.

The "Dancing in the Dark" singer revealed that he recorded an entire album between Nebraska and Born in the U.S.A., which made deciding on the track list for the latter album more difficult.

Springsteen explained that he enjoyed the recording and experience of Nebraska, and thought he might continue in that vein with a small rhythm section, still very lo-fi, and a new group of songs.

However, he wasn't sure where he was going with Born in the U.S.A., and had half the record, but didn't have the other half.

In the liner notes for Born in the U.S.A., Springsteen revealed that he wasn't happy with the album upon its 1984 release, stating that it was "a record I put out. It became the record I made, not necessarily the record that I was interested in making."

He elaborated, saying that he was interested in taking Nebraska and making a full record that had somewhat the same feeling, citing "My Hometown" and "Born in the U.S.A." as the bookends he intended.

The rest of the songs, he said, were just what he had at the time, and that's the way creativity works.

Born in the U.S.A. went on to be nominated for Album of the Year at the Grammys, and became a cultural signifier for Springsteen's songwriting.

The making of Nebraska is soon to be documented in the upcoming film Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, which will star The Bear star, Jeremy Allen White, as Springsteen. The film will be released on October 24.

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