Arcade Fire - Born in the USA (Obama staff ball 2009)

[bourakki]

The dislike is from John Kerry.

[IGotARight]

What a superb version!!!!

[rosepetals21731]

Win and Will Butler are born in Houston Texas tho :o The others are Canadian. But they all live in Montreal

[koolmexican]

Might as well be singing to robots.

[aprilglaspieable]

Raygun was in the throes of Oldtimers when he tried to latch onto this song. Of course he was a vet too. There to liberate Dachau. Long gone daddy in the USA. GOPers are nitwits in general. When people talk about the invasion of Iraq costing billions for nothing, they need to consider taking care of damaged vets. Try a few trillions, morons.

[noslonor]

Yes, politicians have tried to steal the song for their purposes and idiots have become stuck on the refrain w/o understanding the complete lyrics.

Does anyone think the AF playlist was not pre-approved by the WH staff, and that the WH staff was not aware of the song's message?

[Collins1118]

Win butler is American he moved to Canada in 2000

[maverickjdm998]

arcade is from Montreal :P Ironic.

[wakaw07]

@maverickjdm998 Singer is american!

[stolenheartsvintages]

@wakaw07 no he's not, he's from montreal in canada

[wakaw07]

@stolenheartsvintages Wrong>>>>>check your facts!

[kinkykane0607]

@stolenheartsvintages No Win Butler is from texas and so's his brother Will.

[thehushsound15]

@stolenheartsvintages The band itself is Canada based... The lead singer and his brother are from The Woodlands, (Houston) Texas.

[pasza68]

what a mistake... i hope that they will grow up sooner or later)

PS

connecting "Born in the USA" and Obama sounds like a bad joke... anyway i love Arcade Fire

[kateamonson]

I can't believe how many people don't understand the meaning of this song or AF's purpose in covering it. some of these comments make me sad. thanks youtube. i just hope the rest of the over 15000 ppl who have enjoyed this understand the depth and the kind of witness that is going on in this song and in AF's choice to play it in that context. it was a moving and really unforgettable moment.

[mdmarks2]

@kateamonson Agreed. It's sad how much this song still applies today. Today's veterans are 50% more likely to be homeless than civilians.

[pytko3]

They haven't really dressed like that since they were promoting their album, "Funeral". I wonder if it brings back memories for them.

[Brownedog95]

Maybe Obama is having this song played because he is letting people know that he wants to change America. Arcade Fire also played Intervention (widely believed to be an anti-Bush song) and maybe the theme was change from the old, crappy and corrupt regimes, previous to Obama. Obama has made mistakes in his presidency but he's not stupid.

[MattOBrienMcMaster]

Two things:

A) They're Canadian.

B) The song is not patriotic, despite the millions of instances over the past 20 years of people misinterpreting it as such. So why the hell is Obama having this played at his staff party?

[PreciousParadigm]

@MattOBrienMcMaster ummm like becuz obama is a commie muslim who wants to kill america, duh.

god willing we will achieve that soon, america is the whore of the world

[drumdude123]

@MattOBrienMcMaster

The song is as patriotic as they come!

Blind faith in elected officials does not patriotism make.

[coltlacrosse]

Im sure this has been mentioned already, but its hilarious how this song constantly gets interpreted wrong, its anti-war and a hit to our government, yet Obama is not the first idiot to use this in the context of politics.

That aside, the song is great and if you want to pretend its patriotic that's fine, I know i danced to it on the 4th of july even though the two couldnt be more different lol

[getlost667]

@coltlacrosse I actually think BITUSA is rather appropriate. Look at the backdrop, which is also the topic of the 2008 Official Democratic Party Platform: Renewing America's Promise. The song is about how that promise was broken, so given the thematic background, this might actually be the first time BITUSA was used correctly.

[VanMocen]

what a shitty version, is butler about to shit his pants ? fuckin hell, besides, what's the point of a bunch of canadians singing this ?

[Masteryre]

@VanMocen The answer to your question is LITERALLY right beneath your comment.

[elguerobien88]

The funniest part is that they're from Canada.

[TheGlosoli]

@elguerobien88 will and win grew up in texas :)

[elguerobien88]

@TheGlosoli I was unaware of that. Thanks for not being an idiot and trying to fight me over the internet about it.

[purplegirl110294]

@elguerobien88 the singer Win Butler and his brother Will grew up in Austin, Tx

[bertdockx]

I had a buddy at Khe Sahn Fighting off the Viet Cong They're still there, he's all gone He had a little girl in Saigon I got a picture of him in her arms Down in the shadow of the penitentiary Out by the gas fires of the refinery I'm ten years down the road Nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go Born in the U.S.A. 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.

[bertdockx]

Born down in a dead man's town The first kick I took was when I hit the ground You end up like a dog that's been beat too much 'Til you spend half your life just covering up Born in the U.S.A. I got in a little hometown jam And so they put a rifle in my hands Sent me off to Vietnam To go and kill the yellow man Born in the U.S.A. Come back home 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 don't you understand" Born in the U.S.A.

[cwpiper93]

I'm amazed how many Americans don't realise this is an anti-vietnam war song. It's not even subtle about it - there's no way the flag waving morons of Reagan can possibly claim Bruce Springsteen as one of their own.

I love Arcade Fire and this is a great cover.

[Jesusfreak2112]

How dare thay perform that song at an event for Obama! He still hasn't provided proof as to whether or not he's an American!!!

[mseales]

@Jesusfreak2112

I can't decide if this is a joke or not.

[Jesusfreak2112]

@mseales I think i can help with that lol! I love the Boss, even thought he's a Democrat but, how dare they dedicate a song like that, to a man like Obama!!!

[hmunkey]

@Jesusfreak2112 Please be a toll. Pleaseeee.

[midniterocker29]

These guys just fucking killed the Boss' classic.

[reubenx96]

What's is Will playing?

[hardrocker612]

@reubenx96 Mandolin... So awesome

[hardrocker612]

@reubenx96 oh wait sorry, that's Win

[Bluedeanie]

It pisses me off when people cover this song as a politically patriotic song.

[MSGsteve]

@Bluedeanie

I strongly disagree for the reason that the singer is Win Butler and he was born in The Woodlands, Texas, USA. And i feel if i was him - in his shoes - singing that song, I would feel intoxicated with patriotism.

[Bluedeanie]

@MSGsteve

It's about the shitty mistreatment of Nam veterans by the government.

So no, you're pretty much a fucktard.

[suckmynose]

@Bluedeanie

What makes you think this version is supposed to be politically patriotic? Are you suggesting Win Butler doesn't know what the song is about? I'm pretty sure he does.

[kieran514]

@Bluedeanie well, it depends on what your politics are, but yes, it is often misinterpretted as blindly pro-american,.

one of history's great ironies

[naderaboulhosn]

I love Arcade Fire and Bruce Springsteen. I think it's funny that politicians use this song though, i mean the song is about America treating veterans badly. Great song though.

[SteveOhlsson]

sarcasmfive is totally correct it's an anti usa song

[sarcasmfive]

(*** Please note, as people have written to me: "(This song is) a tale of a VietNam vet being treated like shit thru his entire life, "sent off to a foreign land to kill a yellow man" and being spat on upon his return back home..." In other words, this is NOT a patriotic song.)

[luciomath]

This is the single most patriotic thing I have seen lately.

[kimberlyworthington]

that was the best moment of my life

[PedroAlmodovar]

Thanks for taping this, seriously. ENVY

[editorinchimp]

Epic.

[ArcadeFireTube]

woah, thanks a bunch for this one!