Bruce Springsteen’s 1984 Song About a Vietnam Vet Takes Some Emotionally Devastating Lyrical Turns

Quick, name a Bruce Springsteen song about a Vietnam vet. You named “Born In The U.S.A.”, correct? That’s understandable, since that song not only hit the Top 10 but also served as the title track in 1984 for the Boss’s biggest-selling album.

But those who know Springsteen’s deep cuts might have gone instead with “Shut Out The Light”. The song is quieter and more introspective but cuts just as deep as “Born in The U.S.A”, thanks to Springsteen’s focus on a subtly devastated veteran.

“Light” Music

Born In The U.S.A. garnered Bruce Springsteen a level of superstardom that few musicians have ever known. Seven Top 10 hits from a single record will tend to do that for you. Few knew at the time the decision-making process he underwent in choosing the songs that belonged on the record.

Springsteen made that process much more tortured by recording around 70 songs over a three-year period of making the album. In the middle of it all, he pivoted away for Nebraska. In 1982, that detour of an album became its own solo project when renditions of the songs recorded with the E Street Band couldn’t improve upon Bruce’s homemade demos.

The creative process for Nebraska appealed to Springsteen so much that he briefly thought about abandoning the rock songs he’d recorded for Born In The U.S.A. He considered doing another quiet album. “Shut Out The Light”, on which he delicately played all the instruments aside from Soozie Tyrell’s violin, would have appeared on that record.

The ever-vacillating Springsteen eventually moved away from that direction. But he kept “Shut Out The Light” around and released it as the B-side to the “Born In The U.S.A.” single. It also later appeared on each of his Tracks collections of rare recordings.

A Look Behind the Lyrics of “Shut Out The Light”

“Shut Out The Light” introduces us to Johnson Lanier at the moment that he returns to the United States following his tour in Vietnam. His initial instinct is to get a drink. He meets a woman at the bar, and they have a one-night stand. But the first sign of a creeping malaise comes in the wee hours of that rendezvous: “He was staring at the ceiling, he couldn’t move his hands.”

In a subsequent verse, his family and friends do whatever they can to make him feel at home. Banners are hung, his prized vehicle is displayed, and his mother fawns over him. “His pa said he was sure they’d give him his job back down at the factory,” Springsteen sings, leaving unsaid the possibility that such a plan could hit a snag.

The final verse presents a somewhat chilling scene. Springsteen describes a river hidden deep within a forest before revealing the protagonist’s strange activity. “In the cold black water now Johnson Lanier stands,” Springsteen explains. “He stares across the lights of the city and dreams of where he’s been.”

These verses only give fleeting hints at Lanier’s mental and emotional state. Springsteen saves the big revelation for the refrains, cleverly letting his protagonist do the talking for the first time. Beset with sickness and the shakes, he calls for his mother. “Throw your arms around me in the cold dark night,” he pleads. “Hey now mama, don’t shut out the light.”

It’s a clever bit of song construction, one that omits the details but nonetheless conveys the anguish. “Shut Out The Light” stands as one of Springsteen’s most haunting songs, which is all the more amazing considering it only received B-side status.

(Photo by Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images)

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