[Verse 1]
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
'Til you spend half your life just covering up

[Chorus]
Born in the USA
Born in the USA
Born in the USA
Born in the USA

[Verse 2]
I got in a little hometown jam
And so they put a rifle in my hands
"Son, you ever heard of Vietnam?
Well, go and kill the yellow man"

[Chorus]
Born in the USA
Born in the USA
Born in the USA
Born in the USA

[Verse 3]
Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man says, "Son, if it was up to me"
I go down to see the V.A. man
He says, "Son, don’t you understand?"
[Chorus]
Born in the USA
Born in the USA
Born in the USA
Born in the USA

[Verse 4]
I had a buddy at Khe Sanh
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
He had a little girl in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms

[Verse 5]
Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years down the road
Nowhere to run and nowhere to go

[Outro]
I'm a long gone daddy in the USA
Born in the USA
I'm a cool rocking daddy in the USA
Born in the USA