 Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep in 2019 talked with former NPR music director Lauren Onke about why the song has been so misunderstood and what it's really about. Here's Steve Inskeep. We have a question about this decades-old hit song. How was it so widely misunderstood? It's a Bruce Springsteen hit from 1984, and the refrain makes it feel like a celebration of America.