Diane Winston is a professor and Knight Centre Chair in Media & Religion at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. OPINION In 1984, the album was atop the charts and Ronald Reagan, running for re-election, told a New Jersey audience that he and the Boss shared the same American dream. Bruce Springsteen vehemently disagreed.
Sir Elton John, Adele and R.E.M.
did it. So did Rihanna and the Rolling Stones . If Donald Trump tried to use her music, Taylor Swift would likely do it, too.
Many musicians have said “no” when politicians try using their music for campaigning. But Bruce Springsteen may be the most famous naysayer of all. In September 1984, Springsteen’s Born in the USA was atop the charts, and President Ronald Reagan , running for re-election against Walter Mondale, told a New Jersey audience that he and the singer-songwriter shared the same American dream.
Springsteen disagreed. Three days later, performing in Pittsburgh, Springsteen spoke about his version of that dream. “In the beginning, the idea was we all live here a little bit like a family where the strong can help the weak ones, the rich can help the poor ones.
You know, the American dream,” he said in between songs. “I don’t think it was that everybody was going to make a billion dollars but that everybody was going to have an opportunity and a chance to live a life with some decency and some dignity.” June 4, 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of Born in the USA , Springsteen’s to.