The title track of the album inspired the Annie Leibovitz photo of Springsteen's backside against the backdrop of an American flag. Springsteen commented: "We had the flag on the cover because the first song was called Born in the U.S.A., and the theme of the record kind of follows from the themes I've been writing about for at least the last six or seven years. But the flag is a powerful image, and when you set that stuff loose, you don't know what's gonna be done with it."

Some people thought that the cover depicted Springsteen urinating on the flag. He denied it: "That was unintentional. We took a lot of different types of pictures, and in the end, the picture of my ass looked better than the picture of my face, that's what went on the cover. I didn't have any secret message."

Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and humanitarian. Nicknamed The Boss, he is widely known for his brand of poetic lyrics, Americana, working class and sometimes political sentiments.

His most successful studio albums, Born to Run (1975) and Born in the U.S.A. (1984). He has sold more than 120 million records worldwide, making him one of the world's best-selling artists of all time. He has earned numerous awards for his work, including 20 Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes and an Academy Award as well as being inducted into both the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.

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