Born in the U.S.A.

Some  days ago we listened to this song with students of the first class because one of them chose it, brought the cd and so we tried to follow it with the text and this exercise.
It was difficult to follow though because Bruce Springsteen sings it very quickly, nevertheless we succeed in filling in all the balks and we also spoke about the meaning.
I thought that this song might be interesting for the 3rd year students, and useful for their exam too. If you don't need for the exam, just listen to it!

BORN IN THE U.S.A. (by Bruce Springsteen)

Listen and fill in the blanks with the words in the box

your I in they go he's home ten don't him

Born down ____ a dead man's town

The first kick I took was when ____ hit the ground

You end up like a dog that's been beat too much

'Til you spend half _____ life just covering up

[chorus:] Born in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.

I got in a little hometown jam

And so _____ put a rifle in my hands

Sent me off to Vietnam

To ______ and kill the yellow man

[chorus]

Come back _______ to the refinery

Hiring man says "Son if it was up to me"

I go down to see the V.A. man

He said "Son ____ you understand"

[chorus]

I had a buddy at Khe Sahn

Fighting off the Viet Cong

They're still there, _____ all gone

He had a little girl in Saigon

I got a picture of ____ in her arms

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary

Out by the gas fires of the refinery

I'm ____ years down the road

Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go

I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.

I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A.

Born in the U.S.A.

In this video you can see the singer in the time he wrote the song, so look at the clothes, at the hair style and to other features to have an idea how the 80s looked like!

About the meaning of this song

One of the main theme of this song is about the Vietnam War. It is a tribute to the singer's friends who took part in this war. Some of his friends died some other came back but experiende a lot of difficulties. The main character has working-class origins, joins the armed forces and then comes back to the United States. In the song the Battle of Khe Sanh is named. In this battle (January – April 1968) the North Vietnamese Army was involved not the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (the Viet Cong). The Americans, finally, broke the siege. This battle showed that the efforts of the United States in the war weren't so useful.

About the singer

You can find info about Bruce Springsteen following the link below, there are also several videos and links to other websites. 

http://www.biography.com/articles/Bruce-Springsteen-9491214