On the surface, it seems like Bruce Springsteen made a 360 degree turn from his sixth album, the hushed, sparse and dreary Nebraska to his seventh, the chiming, slick and energetic Born in the USA. Take a minute and read through the lyrics, though, and you will see that USA resumes Nebraskas underlining themes of hard times and lost hope. In No Surrender Springsteen describes youthful dreams withering with age; in Downbound Train, he narrates the story a man who finds the good life pulled out from under him and in My Hometown, he depicts the erosion of a middle-American paradise. Even Dancing in the Dark, commonly associated with the Boss pulling a young, starry-eyed Courtney Cox onstage, boils with discontent (I check my look in the mirror/I wanna change my clothes, my hair, my face/Man, I ain't getting nowhere/I'm just living in a dump like this). Then there is the title track, mistaken by campaigning conservatives and the public at large as a zealous ode to the red, white and blue, but actually a Vietnam Vets bitter diatribe about the country that forgot him. The glossy production and arena-ready choruses may have hidden it from casual listeners (and with sales of over 15 million, this disc attracted  a lot of casual listeners), but this is one gritty album. Ultimately, it doesnt matter if the lyrics and the arrangements work towards opposite ends. The one thing they have in common always shines through and thats passion.