If you thought you knew Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA’, think again and listen to this version from Ballboy’s album ‘The Sash My Father Wore and Other Stories’.

Many have been fooled by the title of the song into assuming that it is some kind of flag-waving celebration of all things American. Springsteen’s macho posturing adds to the lazy credibility of this view, and the original has even been used as soundtrack to presidential campaigns. 

Those of you who have ever taken the trouble to listen to the lyrics will have spotted a heartbreaking polemic against the Vietnam war, set as an ironic cry from a veteran who loses all the things he cares for and believes in. 

Ballboy’s sparse acoustic version lends an entirely new focus to this song, stripping away the excesses, leaving the bare emotion. The vocal, soft and understated, entirely suits the damage of the song and lets you make your own reading of the words.