This song is about Springsteen's experiences growing up in Freehold, New Jersey, his hometown. Bruce doesn't have many nice things to say about Freehold, and would play another scathing song about his hometown called "Freehold" on his 1999 tour.
The original title was "Your Hometown." Recorded in February 1983, it wasn't released as a single until December 1985.
The lyrics are a bleak portrait of life for the working class in the Reagan era, as many small towns fell apart. It helped earn Springsteen the reputation as a voice for the common man.
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