If I have any criticism of Steven Hyden's excellent 'There Was Nothing You Could Do" it would be that it often feels disjointed. The obvious through line is "Born in the U.S.A." but otherwise, the book feels more like a series of essays than a fully coherent thesis on the album and the "death of the heartland" as the subtitle suggests. The chapters, or essays I'll call them, are fantastic though, and fortunately for both author and reader, Springsteen and his apex mountain album justify pretty much every page. There's so much myth to be discussed, and I really enjoyed the ways in which Hyden connected other parts of Springsteens career while always relating them back to his 1984 album. I was lucky enough to attend the now infamous Ticketmaster-dynamic-pricing tour Hyden ends the book talking about, and it was an experience I'll cherish for the rest of my life. Though the Ticketmaster debacle did keep me from seeing it with my Dad too which would've been even more special...

I enjoyed reading about how Bruce Springsteen's music affected the author throughout his life. When he discussed different times and songs, I remembered hearing those same songs for the first time. And sometimes I had almost the exact same introduction to them as he did. This was an interesting read, and I enjoyed it. It's was a 3.75 star read for me.

A very well-detailed and interesting look at how Born in the USA was not only made, but how it created Bruce and the myth that surrounded him after the whirlwind tour in 1984-85. Mr. Hyden explores a ton of themes and ever-changing social and musical landscape that Bruce and America go through as a direct and indirect result of his Album. As stated in the intro, this book wasn't a "Making of..." book, nor was it a Bruce Springsteen biography. What this book is a musical and cultural criticism of what Born in the USA was and is, and how it has left a mark on many Americans, especially in the age of Trump and populism. The book reads at first as if the contents of the chapters do not seem to match the title, but you need to read the book in whole to understand the entire message.

Overall, a good book that combines Bruce fandom and understanding his music with combining the commentary of what Born in the USA was, what Born in the USA was meant to be, and what Born in the USA can or cannot represent in Modern America. I have been listening to his songs in greater detail after reading this, trying to listen more closely to the message he is trying to say, rather than listen for the awesome tunes and jam out on my way to work.

Great book, and I hope many more people enjoy this book when it comes out.

There Was Nothing You Could Do; Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A." and the End of the Heartland, by Steven Hyden, offers a refreshing take on the career of rock superstar Bruce Springsteen, and its place in a changing American musical and social landscape. Hyden's perspective on Springsteen's most commercially successful album is somewhat unusual, in that he was only six years old when the album was released in 1984 (the artist's earlier breakthrough album, Born To Run, had been released well before the author was born). He casts Springsteen as a "heartland" rocker who occupied a place at the center of America's cultural divides in ways that are thought-provoking, if not always entirely convincing to this baby-boomer reviewer. Hyden recounts the evolution of Springsteen's music, as well as his public persona, both before and after the 1980s, seeing in both a continuing attempt to unite his vast audience in the context of an increasingly fragmented political and cultural landscape. Recommended for admirers of Springsteen's work and others with an interest in how the arts both reflect and influence larger societal trends.

As a fan of Hyden's recent books, this delivers in the same way. Thoughtful, personal musings on Born in the USA, combined with some historical insight, research into contemporary reviews and reflections on how Bruce's career has evolved since. An elevated 33 1/3 that any Bruce fan would enjoy.

I’ve always known of Springsteen in the context of “Music that Shitty Conservative Dads™ love”, and I (wrongly) assumed Springsteen himself was of a similar genre of guy. I’ve since learned that was actually pretty far from the truth a few years back, so when I saw this book, I thought a-ha! A perfect opportunity to learn more about the full scope of my wrongness!

The blurb of this book, mentions things like how Vietnam and Watergate impacted the music Springsteen was making at the time, and then closing with “How did we lose Springsteen’s heartland? And what can listening to these songs teach us about the American decline that Born In The U.S.A. forecasted? [...]Hyden takes readers on a journey to find out.” which led me to believe this would be heavy on the history of the time, particularly the sociopolitical landscape of the 70’s and 80’s and how that connects to our current political landscape. I was excited to learn more about a genre of music that I have mostly negative associations with (the aforementioned Shitty Conservative Dad™), through this lens.

Unfortunately, that is not what the book spends most of its time on. What it does spend its time with is connecting different albums and songs across many artists with their similar themes, styles, or messages (or in some cases, their stark differences). I really struggled with this. Sometimes I was having to stop every couple of sentences to listen to yet another song I’ve never heard of, trying to follow along. I would have killed for a spotify playlist to go with the reading, or even just a tracklist at the start of each chapter with the highlights the author wanted me to have fresh in mind while I read.

As someone who reads a lot of political/history nonfiction, I found the discussion around ~what happened to the center~ be very milquetoast, and overall disappointing.

This book provides a lot of context of how popular rock artists from the 60’s – 90’s influenced each other in small and large ways, and the way that musical trends can be cyclical, and I think if you recognize a lot of the bands and songs, this is could be really fun to read.

(Seriously though, it desperately needs the chapter tracklist and/or playlist)

Loved this! I learned so much. I saw the Born in the USA tour when I was 12, after spending the night in line for tickets. I grew up on Springsteen’s music, with family in New Jersey, very close to where Bruce lives now. What drew me to this is how popular Born in the USA was among everyone at the time, though the message of the album was critical of the times. How did that come to pass? This was very lovingly researched and written by a critic who is obviously a fan. I enjoyed his insights.

I’ll read anything with the name “Bruce Springsteen” on the cover, but this was a really special book. This is an absolutely clear-eyed, if endearing, look at Springsteen’s career and, specifically, the choices he made in the overwhelming and no doubt frightening success of Born in the USA.

What’s striking about the book is, in analyzing Springsteen’s deliberate and strategic decision to scale back his ambition and popularity, author Hyden doesn’t take the hagiographic position that mega-stardom was always Springsteen’s choice to abdicate. Hyden places Bruce in a world that’s moved on, both musically and politically. The issue isn’t Springsteen’s greatness or even current and future relevance - the issue is whether Springsteen’s unifying vision of an ideal United States where we take care of each other with compassion was ever true, much less is currently true.

What I love best about this book is it’s written with love and affection, but the kind of love and affection that’s richer because you see the flaws and foibles of the affection’s object. Along the way, Hyden has time to have some fun with Bruce’s physique, his unfortunate hair choices, some of his musical choices, his self-seriousness and self-mythologizing. Springsteen has spent most of his career trying to take the wind out of that myth - this is the only recent work on Springsteen that has taken that effort to heart. Far from critical, the book acknowledges Bruce’s greatness by making it the life’s work of a man, not an icon. And places that man within the context of a similarly sober view of our troubled country.

Many thanks to Hachette and NetGalley for the advance review copy.