Where were ya born?

While the Yankees hosted the Red Sox, Springsteen played Fenway Park. Before the Sox-Yankees game on Saturday, Fox showed video of Red Sox player Kevin Millar lip-synching to "Born in the U.S.A." Not to pick on Millar (actually the clip captures Millar's infectiously fun personality), but it suddenly occurred to me that "Born in the U.S.A." is one of the most greatly misunderstood songs ever written. It is about a Vietnam veteran fitting back into life in America, yet all anyone ever seems to hear is the chorus "Born in the U.S.A." as though it were the National Anthem for the Rock & Roll era. Maybe we shoudl take a nationwide vote on the National Anthem in butterfly ballot form, no less, every four years. We could choose between:

1. "Born in the U.S.A."

2. The old one, you know,with bombs and rockets

3. "God (however you define it) Bless America"

4. "Pink Houses" John Cougar Mellencamp (another misunderstood song with a chorus that says "Ain't that America," ironically)

5. That detestable Toby Keith song

To pick more on Fox sports, their opening montage before the Sox-Yankees game was truly awful: a cover version of Don Henley's "Boys of Summer" played over game images with meaningful posed shots of various Red Sox and Yankees players.

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