Born in the USA
Cover Me
Darlington County
Working on the Highway
Downbound Train
I'm on Fire
No Surrender
Bobby Jean
I'm goin' down
Glory Days
Dancing in the Dark
My Hometown
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
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.
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
Born in the U.S.A....
Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said "Son if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "Son, don't you understand"
I had a brother at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
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.
Born in the U.S.A., I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.
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.
The times are tough now, just getting tougher
This old world is rough, it's just getting rougher
Cover me, come on baby, cover me
Well I'm looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me
Promise me baby you won't let them find us
Hold me in your arms, let's let our love blind us
Cover me, shut the door and cover me
Well I'm looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me
Outside's the rain, the driving snow
I can hear the wild wind blowing
Turn out the light, bolt the door
I ain't going out there no more
This whole world is out there just trying to score
I've seen enough I don't want to see any more,
Cover me, come on and cover me
I'm looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me
Looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me
Driving into Darlington County
Me and Wayne on the Fourth of July
Driving into Darlington County
Lookin' for some work on the county line
We drove down from New York City
Where the girls are pretty but they just wanna know your name
Driving into Darlington City
Got a union connection with an uncle of Wayne's
We drove eight hundred miles without seeing a cop
We got rock'n'roll music blasting off the t-top
Singing sha-la la, sha la la la la la
sha-la la la la la la
sha-la la, sha-la la la la la
sha-la la la la la la
Hey little girl, standing on the corner
Today's your lucky day for shure, all right
Me and my buddy, we're from New York City
We got two hundred dollars, we want to rock all night
Girl, you're lookin' at two big spenders
Why, the world don't know what me and Wayne might do
Our pa's each own one of the World Trade Centers
For a kiss and a smile I'll give mine all to you
C'mon baby, take a seat on the fender, it's a long night
Tell me, what else were you gonna do?
Just me and you, we could ...
(Chorus)
Little girl, sittin' in the window
Ain't seen my buddy in seven days
County man tells me the same thing
He don't work, and he don't get paid
Little girl, you're so young and pretty
Walk with me and you can have your way
Then we'll leave this Darlington City
For a ride down that Dixie Highway
(Chorus)
Driving out of Darlington County
My eyes seen the glory of the coming Lord
Driving out of Darlington County
Seen Wayne handcuffed to the bumper of a state trooper's Ford
(Chorus)
Friday night's pay night guys fresh out of work
Talking about the weekend scrubbing off the dirt
Some heading home to their families some looking to get hurt
Some going down to Stovell wearing trouble on their shirts
I work for the county out on 95
All day I hold a red flag and watch the traffic pass me by
In my head I keep a picture of a pretty little miss
Someday mister I'm gonna lead a better life than this
Working on the highway laying down the blacktop
Working on the highway all day long I don't stop
Working on the highway blasting through the bedrock
Working on the highway, working on the highway
I met her at a dance down at the union hall
She was standing with her brothers back up against the wall
Sometimes we'd go walking down the union tracks
One day I looked straight at her and she looked straight back
Working on the highway laying down the blacktop
Working on the highway all day long I don't stop
Working on the highway blasting through the bedrock
Working on the highway, working on the highway
I saved up my money and I put it all away
I went to see her daddy but we didn't have much to say
"Son can't you see that she's just a little girl
She don't know nothing about this cruel cruel world"
We lit out down to Florida we got along all right
One day her brothers came and got her and they took me in a black
and white
The prosecutor kept the promise that he made on that day
And the judge got mad and he put me straight away
I wake up every morning to the work bell clang
Me and the warden go swinging on the Charlotte County road gang
Working on the highway laying down the blacktop
Working on the highway all day long I don't stop
Working on the highway blasting through the bedrock
Working on the highway, working on the highway
I had a job, I had a girl
I had something going mister in this world
I got laid off down at the lumber yard
Our love went bad, times got hard
Now I work down at the carwash
Where all it ever does is rain
Don't you feel like you're a rider on a downbound train
She just said "Joe I gotta go
We had it once we ain't got it any more"
She packed her bags left me behind
She bought a ticket on the Central Line
Nights as I sleep, I hear that whistle whining
I feel her kiss in the misty rain
And I feel like I'm a rider on a downbound train
Last night I heard your voice
You were crying, crying, you were so alone
You said your love had never died
You were waiting for me at home
Put on my jacket, I ran through the woods
I ran till I thought my chest would explode
There in the clearing, beyond the highway
In the moonlight, our wedding house shone
I rushed through the yard, I burst through the front door
My head pounding hard, up the stairs I climbed
The room was dark, our bed was empty
Then I heard that long whistle whine
And I dropped to my knees, hung my head and cried
Now I swing a sledge hammer on a railroad gang
Knocking down them cross ties, working in the rain
Now don't it feel like you're a rider on a downbound train
Hey little girl is your daddy home
Did he go away and leave you all alone
I got a bad desire
I'm on fire
Tell me now baby is he good to you
Can he do to you the things that I do
I can take you higher
I'm on fire
Sometimes it's like someone tooh a knife baby
edgy and dull and cut a six-inch valley
through the middle of my skull
At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet
and a freight train running through the
middle of my head
Only you can cool my desire
I'm on fire
We busted out of class had to get away from those fools
We learned more from a three-minute record than we ever learned
in school
Tonight I heart the neighborhood drummer sound
I can feel my heart begin to pound
You say you're tired and you just want to close your eyes and
follow your
dreams down
We made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat, believe me, no surrender
Like soldiers in the winter's night with a vow to defend
No retreat, believe me, no surrender
Now young faces grow sad and old and hearts of fire grow cold
We swore blood brothers against the wind
I'm ready to grow young again
And hear your sister's voice calling us home across the open
yards
Believin' we could cut someplace of our own
With these drums and these guitars
We made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat, believe me, no surrender
Blood brothers in the stormy night with a vow to defend
No retreat, believe me, no surrender
Now on the street tonight the lights grow dim
The walls of my room are closing in
There's a war outside still raging you say it ain't ours anymore
to win^M
We could sleep in the twilight by the river side
With a wide open country in our hearts
And these romanics dreams in our heads
We made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat, believe me, no surrender
Blood brothers in the stormy night with a vow to defend
No retreat, believe me, no surrender
Well I came by your house the other day, your mother said you
went away
She said there was nothing that I could have done
There was nothing nobody could say
Me and you we've known each other ever since we were sixsteen
I wished I would have known I wished I could have called you
Just to say goodbye Bobby Jean
Now you hung with me when all the others turned away turned up
their noise
We liked the same music we liked the same bands we liked the same
clothes
We told each other that we were the wildest, the wildest things
we'd ever seen
Now I wished you would have told me I wished I could have talked
to you
Just to say goodbye Bobby Jean
Now we went walking in the rain talking about the pain from
the world we hid
Now there ain't nobody nowherer nohow gonna ever understand me
the way you did
Maybe you'll be out there on that road somewhere
In some bus or train traveling along
In some motel room there'll be a radio playing
And you'll hear me sing this song
Well if you do you'll know I'm thinking of you and all the
miles in between
And I'm just calling one last time not to change your mind
But just to say I miss you baby, good luck goodbye, Bobby Jean
We sit in the car outside your house
I can feel the heat coming 'round
I go to put my arm around you
and you give me a look like I'm way out of bounds
well you let out one of your bored sighs
Well lately when I look into your eyes
I'm goin down
We get dressed up and we go out, baby, for the night
We come home early burning, burning in some fire fight
I'm sick and tired of you setting me up
Setting me up just to knock-a knock-a knock-a me down
I pull you close but when we kiss I can feel a doubt
I remember back when we started
My kisses used to turn you inside out
I used to drive you to work in the morning
Friday night I'd drive you all around
You used to love to drive me wild
But lately girl you get your kicks from just driving me down
I had a friend was a big baseball player back in highschool
He could throw that speedball by ya, make you look like a fool
Saw him the other night at this roadside bar I was walking in he
was
walking out
We went back inside, sat down, had a few drinks, but all we kept
talking
about
Glory Days, yeah they'll pass you by
Glory Days, in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory Days, glory days
There's this girl that lives up the block, back in school she
could turn
all the boys heads
Sometimes on Friday I'll stop by and have a few drinks after she
put her
kids to bed
Her and her husband Bobby, well they split up, I guess it's two
years gone by
We just sit around talking about the old times, she says when she
feels
like crying she starts laughing thinking about
Glory Days, yeah they'll pass you by
Glory Days, in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory Days, glory days
Think I'm going down to the well tonight and I'm gonna drink
till I get`
my fill
I hope when I get older I don't sit around thinking about it, but
I probably
will
Yeah just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory
of
Well the time slips away and leaves you with nothing, mister, but
boring
stories of
Glory Days, yeah they'll pass you by
Glory Days, in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory Days, glory days
All right boys keep it rocking now
We gonna go home now
Let's go!
I get up in the evening, and I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the moring, I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired, man I'm just tired and bored with
myself
Hey there baby, I could use just a little help
You can't start a fire, you can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire even if we're just dancing in the dark
Message keeps getting clearer, radio's on and I'm moving round
the place
I check my look in the mirror I wanna change my clothes my hair
my face
Man I ain't getting nowhere just sitting in a dump like this
There's something happening somewhere baby I just know that there
is
You can't start a fire, you can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire even if we're just dancing in the dark
You sit around getting older there's a joke here somewhere and
it's
on me
I'll shake this world off my shoulders come baby this laughs on
me
Stay on the streets of this town and they'll be carving you up
alright
They say you got to stay hungry hey baby I'm just about starving
tonight
I'm dying for some action I'm sick of sitting 'round here
trying to
write this book
I need a love reaction come on now baby give me just one look
You can't start a fire, you can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire even if we're just dancing in the dark
I was eight years old and running with a dime in my hand
Into the bus stop to pick up a paper for my old man
I'd sit on his lap in that big old Buick and steer as we drove
through town
He'd tousle my hair and say son take a good look around
This is your hometown, this is your hometown
This is your hometown, this is your hometown
In `65 tension was running high at my high school
There was a lot of fights between the black and white
There was nothing you could do
Two cars at a light on a Saturday night in the back seat there
was a gun
Words were passed in a shotgun blast
Troubled times had come to my hometown
My hometown, my hometown, my hometown
Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back
to
Your hometown, your hometown, your hometown, your hometown
Last night me and Kate we laid in bed talking about getting
out
Packing up our bags maybe heading south
I'm thirty-five we got a boy of our own now
Last night I sat him up behind the wheel and said son take a good
look around
This is your hometown