Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 hit classic has had a controversial lyric removed on UK radio over its allegedly racist references.
It is possibly ironic that the year Born in the U.S.A. was released was 1984. However, George Orwell didn’t have anything to do with the current situation. Bruce Springsteen’s iconic hit has reportedly been censored after all these years over a potentially racist lyric.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Absolute Radio was playing Springsteen’s hit Born in the U.S.A., but with one line altered. The lyric that had caught the censor’s ear was the phrase, “yellow man,” in a verse which describes the experience of a working class American drafted into the Vietnam War.
Fans will know from the original recording that the Boss sings, “So they put a rifle in my hands, sent me off to a foreign land, to go and kill the yellow man, Born in the U.S.A.”
As sensitivities increase in the world over racism, the term “yellow man” is considered bad, despite the song’s broader meaning. Born in the U.S.A. is widely regarded as a patriotic song. However, it is more widely regarded as criticism about how the Vietnam veterans were treated after returning home from the controversial war.
Meanwhile, Absolute Radio will always censor that particular lyric when playing that Springsteen track, although Bauer Media, that owns the radio station, has not made any public comment over the change.
That’s where I’m out.
Yes, language matters.⁰But rewriting music after the fact to fit today’s sensitivities is a line for me.
Now it’s Bruce Springsteen.⁰A UK radio station is censoring Born in the U.S.A..
Details below.#BruceSpringsteen #BornInTheUSA #CensorshipInMusic pic.twitter.com/amHM6lxdcu
— Marzel Becker – Under The Radar HH (@marzel_mit_z) January 11, 2026
Meanwhile, Born in the U.S.A., released in 1984, quickly became one of Springsteen’s biggest hits, and the song was the title track of his blockbuster album, also titled Born in the U.S.A. It went on to sell more than 30 million copies worldwide. However, despite its catchy beat and chorus, the verses of the song tell a much darker story and the Boss has had to repeatedly explain this over the years since its release.
According to Ultimate Classic Rock in 2021, Springsteen explained, “This is a song about the pain, glory, shame of identity and of place,” adding, “So it’s a complex picture of the country. Our protagonist is someone who has been betrayed by his nation and yet still feels deeply connected to the country that he grew up in.”
The song certainly left its mark and was quickly ranked No. 275 on the Rolling Stone list of “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” Meanwhile, Springsteen’s iconic hit has made its place firmly in rock history, despite its lyrics attracting criticism several decades later.
However, Springsteen is not alone in being censored in the UK. It was noted that BBC Radio 2 altered a lyric in the Spice Girls’ 1997 hit, “Spice Up Your Life, “by removing the word “yellow” when airing the song over racial sensitivity. The actual lyrics of that portion of the song read, “Yellow man in Timbuktu, Color for both me and you, Kung Fu Fighting.”
While there has been no comment by Springsteen himself of the reported censorship, fans can continue to hear the full song Born in the U.S.A. in its original form on albums and streaming platforms around the world.
