Born In the USA is perhaps one of the most misunderstood songs in American history. This week, we've heard several radio stations play it as an homage to American greatness at the Olympics. Someone should tell them the song is about how awful our country was to Vietnam veterans.
But that has us wondering: what are the most mistaken or misunderstood pieces of art across the genres? From music to painting to poetry to literature, our panel tells us where we're routinely going wrong. (We're looking at you, Guy With the Road Not Taken Poster.) Our guests:
- John Covach, director of the Institute for Popular Music at the University of Rochester
- Kyle Semmel, executive director of Writers & Books
- Marlene Hamann-Whitmore, director of academic programs for the Memorial Art Gallery
- Melissa Balmain, English instructor at the University of Rochester and editor of Light, an online journal of light verse