See The Boss and his longtime band on the tour debut of the title track to his landmark 1984  album.

Bruce Springsteen concluded a two-show stand at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York just outside of New York City on Tuesday. After delivering the tour debut of “Mary’s Place” at his UBS debut on Sunday, The Boss broke out the title track to his landmark 1984 album, Born In The U.S.A., for the first time since 2016 to kick off the encore on Tuesday.

“Born In The U.S.A.” joined its LP companion “No Surrender,” Bruce’s go-to opener on the 2023 tour. All told, Springsteen delivered four tracks from his 1984 album including favorites “Dancing In The Dark” and “Glory Days.” Bruce and the band dipped equally from his latest album of new material, Letter To You, with “Ghosts,” the title track, “Last Man Standing” and “I’ll See You In My Dreams” — which Bruce dedicated to a father holding a sign that read “My Son Left Me 6 Months ago” — to close the encore.

Springsteen launched last night’s encore with “Born In The U.S.A.,” last time played with the E Street Band on July 31, 2016 in Zurich, Switzerland, as per SetlistFM stats. An anti-war anthem thematically in the vein of John Prine’s “Sam Stone,” “Born In The U.S.A.” traces the difficulties faced by veterans who sacrificed for their country only to be ignored when they returned home. While Bruce toyed with the notion of including the song on his 1982 album, Nebraska, as it arose from the same sessions, he ultimately left it off. Bruce explained why in a 1998 interview, as per Springsteenlyrics.com.

“I didn’t think it was finished and it was uh, it was one of my first songs about Vietnam and I was trying to – I think I wanted to make sure I had it right and, and uh I wasn’t quite sure that I finished it. Listening back it was – it came out pretty good really and I think now if I was making that decision today I would have put it on.”

“Born In The U.S.A.” is just as relevant today as it was in the early ’80s and Bruce’s continued passion for the issue is evident in the Elmont performance. The song also showcases the powerful drum skills of Max Weinberg. Watch Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play “Born In The U.S.A.” for the first time in nearly seven years below: