Born down in a dead mans town The first kick I took was when I hit the ground You end up like a dog thats 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 k** 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, dont you understand I had a brother at khe sahn Fighting off the viet cong Theyre still there, hes 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 Im 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., Im 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., Im a cool rocking daddy in the u.s.a