It’s a simple image: Bruce Springsteen with a ball cap in his back pocket in front of an American flag. Though simple, nothing could be more evocative of The Boss’ blue-collar image than the cover of Born in the U.S.A.
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Springsteen really hit his stride with Born in the U.S.A. Released in 1984, the album made use of poppier tones than Springsteen’s prior releases, which helped him land on the charts and soar to stratospheric heights.
Like much of Springsteen’s work, the album is a complex endeavor. The 12 tracks – particularly the title song – act as a discerning commentary on the disillusionment of the “American Dream” while, at the same time, bolstering patriotism with their rousing musicality.
Whichever way you choose to interpret Springsteen’s seventh studio album, no one can deny it changed his career forever.
Behind the Album Cover
The cover shoot for Born in the U.S.A. was orchestrated by renowned photographers Annie Leibovitz and Andrea Klein. The photogs took many photos of Springsteen throughout the shoot but settled on one of him from behind – a decision Springsteen once said happened by chance.
Those who thought the title track was Springsteen’s way of expressing his admiration for Ronald Reagan’s administration took the album cover at face value. Those who uncoded the deeper meaning behind the track started a rumor that the cover was Springsteen secretly relieving himself on the American symbol.
Springsteen denied both of those angles in an interview with Rolling Stone in 1984. “No, no. That was unintentional,” he told the publication. “We took a lot of different types of pictures, and in the end, the picture of my ass looked better, than the picture of my face, so that’s what went on the cover. I didn’t have any secret message. I don’t do that very much.”
Elsewhere in the same interview, Springsteen was asked if he “played into the hands of professional patriots” with that particular album cover during an election year. “Well, we had the flag on the cover because the first song was called ‘Born in the U.S.A.,’ and the theme of the record kind of follows from the themes I’ve been writing about for at least the last six or seven years,” The Boss replied. “But the flag is a powerful image, and when you set that stuff loose, you don’t know what’s gonna be done with it.”
Moving away from politics, there is an endearing origin for the baseball cap in Springsteen’s pocket. His friend, Lance Larson, gifted Springsteen the hat after his father died. Springsteen then used it on the album cover as an homage, in hopes the elder Larson could live on through the album.
All things considered, the album cover seemed an apt choice for Springsteen’s body of work. Few artists have epitomized American life – the good, the bad, and the ugly – in the way the New Jersey native has. So, it stands to reason that it should be represented in some way in his album art.
From the flag to the staple blue jeans and white t-shirt, to the baseball cap, Born in the U.S.A bottles up treasured iconography for something truly timeless.
Album Cover: Annie Leibovitz and Andrea Klein
