Springsteen has expressed some mixed feelings about the album, believing that "Nebraska" contains some of his strongest writing, while "Born in the U.S.A." did not necessarily follow suit. The title track "more or less stood by itself", he declared. "The rest of the album contains a group of songs about which I've always had some ambivalence." Even so, and despite describing the album as "grab-bag", he acknowledged its powerful effect on his career, claiming: ""Born in the U.S.A." changed my life and gave me my largest audience. It forced me to question the way I presented my music and made me think harder about what I was doing."