Not a bad review from Anonymous, but they've missed the most critical fact guiding this song.
"Born in the USA," the song, was originally a ball-breaking scream against the Vietnam War and the subsequent bad treatment of the war's veterans'. Springsteen was convinced by his manager and the record label that, popped up, it could be a huge hit. Bruce had a tough decision to make, because changing the song this way would take the emphasis off the war theme, and the irony out of its chorus.
In the end he wanted the hit, but his guitarist, and lifelong friend & soulmate, Little Steven, was a purist. Steve refused to support the song and left the E Street Band in protest. He formed his own band, with moderate success. "No Surrender" is a song about friendship, loss, anger, and forgiveness. The critical line in the song is in its chorus, "we made our promise. We swore we'd always remember - no retreat baby, no surrender." Kind of like, no hard feelings.
