John Mellencamp -- "Small Town", "Pink Houses", "Hurts So Good", "Crumblin' Down", "Authority Song", "I Need a Lover", "Lonely Ol' Night", "R.O.C.K. in the USA!" along with many others all worth checking out. I saw him open for Heart back when he went by the name John Cougar. Great show. He out did Heart by a mile.
Lonesome jubilee! I went to that concert in Sydney, absolutely rocked. Kenny on drums, the back up singers, the entire show was one of the best I’ve seen. I’ve seen U2, AC/DC, Sting, Fleetwood Mac, Springsteen.....lots of concerts. JCM can hold his own with them all.
This song means so much to me. It would be on the radio all the time when I was a kid in the 80s. Knew it well. Then, I grew up in the 90s, found my own music, and probably went at least 10 years without hearing this song. Then one night, sitting at a traffic stop about 24 years old, this song plays, and that line "Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone" hit me like a ton of bricks. So true. Its amazing how some lyrics can have little meaning at one point of your life then, somewhere down the road, it can mean everything.
He got heavily into the "save the farms" campaign, "Pink Houses", "Small Town", "Hurts so Good" and "Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow". A lot of great songs! I had 3 of his albums. (and listened to them!)
Heck yeah my home state guy. Actually met him and heard him sing this song in high school before he made it big and recorded it. Thanks. He has some awesome music.
I’m glad you finally got to John. We are from the same “Small Town”. My husband went to school with him. He broke my husbands nose in PE. Most of Johns songs come straight from the heartland of Indiana, most of his videos are shot in my county. My favorite song “Pink Houses” I watch them shoot some of it about a mile from my house. John has some great songs. Hope you do some more of his songs. He sings about the true Heartland of America. Another good one is Cherry Bomb”👍🔥
You is gonna like this. There is a long list of his songs to react to. Authority Song, Hurts So Good, for a few. His music sounds great riding a bike down the road. Thumbs up
John Mellencamp did a cover with Meshell Ndegeocello of “Wild Nights,” the Van Morrison song. If pressed to choose, I prefer their version. (Jovaughn 100K!! I’ve been a little distracted and didn’t realize this was happening so soon. 🥂)
Many great songs from this band, starting as John Cougar, then to John Cougar-Mellencamp. From small town of Seymour Indiana. Great drummer, Kenny Arinoff.
Back when he was John Cougar Mellencamp. My first designer jeans were Bobbie Brooks. Always makes me smile when he calls them that. Those changes came so soon, too soon.
After his initial success, which afforded him a bit more clout, he first changed “Johnny” (a name he had never gone by) back to “John” and then tacked his real surname back on. So, he actually went from “John Mellencamp” to “Johnny Cougar” to “John Cougar” to “John Cougar Mellencamp” and back to “John Mellencamp.” So, there ya go. His birthday is tomorrow BTW and he's also a painter. Def have to do Hurts So Good.
Fan of John since the 80’s and fortunate enough to see him in concert twice. Minutes to Memories, Sweet Evening Breeze, What if I came Knocking, I’m Not Running Anymore, You’re Life is Now, Paper In Fire, Pop Singer, The Real Life to name a few of John’s songs I really like.
Shout out to Mellencamp’s band members. Though his personnel has changed over the years, he always picks excellent backing musicians, especially David Grissom! And I agree his concerts were great rocking fun!
JOHN COUGAR, "JACK AND DIANE", EARLY DAYS OF VIDEOS, AND MTV... THE CONTINUATION OF 60'S,70'S YOUNGER, BABY BOOMERS MUSIC THAT'S MY CATEGORIZING OF THE 80'S AWESOME SOUNDS....
@@GrowingUpJersey thanks i had that then deleted it lol... that one of my top favs. Relate to it so well. Grew up 50 miles from John in farmland and watched family lose farms as well. Thanks.
When I was in high school, my English 2 class had an assignment to choose one line from a song that meant a lot to you, write an essay about it, etc. The line I chose was, "Life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone," from this song. That line still gives me goosebumps when I listen to it, even all these years later.
Since the first time I heard “Jack & Diane” loved it and still do! It’s has a great story line and John Mellencamp voice is awesome, plus the beat & instrumental sounds were amazing. It was a #1 hit on the US Billboard in 1982 for 4 weeks. Looking forward to hear more John Mellencamp songs on your reaction.
I remember this song so well!! John Mellencamp opened for Heart back in 1982...I know because I was there. It was the big concert that summer...everyone singing to Jack and Diane...I will never forget it!! 😊👍 one song that is even more quirky is Jackie O....it's about Jackie Onassis. It sounds like he made it up on the spot haha with an organ
Growing up in the rural midwest this song struck a lot of nerves, both for younger folk and older folk. Life goes on long after the thrill of livin' is gone...
its incredible , i was 17 when this came out . pretty much the age he's singing about . im 56 now , n hell i can so relate to this song more now than when i was 17 . almost makes me emotional . almost lol
@jayveeTV A bit of trivia for ya: this song was inspired by an interracial couple he saw at one of his shows. He thought it was cool and decided to write a song about it. In the song, Jack was black, Diana was white, and they were high school sweethearts just like any other. The label thought that would limit the success of the song and refused to release it without changed. John fought with them for awhile over it, because them being interracial and just a couple like any other was the point of the song but when the label was adamant about not releasing it, he finally changed John changed Jack to be "a football star." It was really cool thing to learn (I'd only learned that about a year ago, myself) as my parents were interracial just like Jack & Diane, and were married the same time this song dropped. In the video for "Ain't Even Down With the Night" his performance was inspired by James Brown, and "Wild Nights" is a duet with a killer bassist Me'Shell Ndegeocello from the 90's (one of my favorites). John Mellencamp's story of a dude in constant battle with his labels: they changed his name (around this time he was known was John Cougar because the label thought "Mellencamp" wasn't marketable), his songs, his image, etc. He finally got to be big enough to call his own shots.
he has so many songs. He's really good in concert. Personal faves are the Authority Song, Paper in Fire, and Cherry Bomb. And Rain on the Scarecrow, which is an amazing song
I wish you could've done more John Mellencamp reactions. He's my all-time favourite. I got to see him in concert last year, and even in his 70s, he can still put on a show.
John's first stage name was John Cougar. He was from Seymour, Indiana. He later went to his real last name - Mellencamp. He has a song called I NEED A LOVER. It is fantastic. It has an incredibly loooong intro & I *love* it! He was younger when he wrote it. He said he'll never put that long of an intro on a song again. But it's a favorite of mine.
"Dribble off those Bobbie Brooks" refers to a brand of designer jeans that were popular when this tune was released. Also, today Oct. 7 is his birthday!
In 2008, accomplished singer/songwriterJohn Mellencamp was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (very deservedly). The TH-cam video named "Induction of John Mellencamp is well worth watching." Billy Joel, who gives a tribute and introduction to John, is hilarious. Not to be missed is what John shares as he thanks those who've made a difference in his life. Big bonus: John performs several of his songs. Also, check out his live performances at Farm Aid benefits over the years. Love his performance of "Hurts So Good" in the 1995 one.
The reason that you're having a hard time placing the genre is because this is rural, midwestern focused rock n roll. There had been southern rock before this, which was rural focused. Had John come out a decade or two later he would have been country, but he was a hybrid between 50's rock and 2000's country. He was even hard to categorize back in the 80's. He was unapologetically unironic about culture and rural life, which is not to say naïve. Urbane irony, of course, became rock n roll's hermeneutic stance by the late 60's. JM bought the sound of rock and the hermeneutic stance of country. Rock critics pretty much hated JM, because he wasn't trying to tear down rural American values. If you listen closely to his music, you can hear his critique of the forces trying to undo small-town America, which is the greed of foreclosing on farms, moving factories to China or Mexico, and hypocrisy in its many forms.
When I was younger we called this kind of music "soft rock." I remember buying this album after my daughter was born because there isn't much swearing in it. I really like his focus on support for small towns and farms, and his songs Justice and Independence, Small Town, Pink Houses, Crumblin' Down and the Authority Song.
I hadn't listened to this magnificent work of art in a while, what a voice, the melody, and lyrics. It is simply perfect. So unfortunate that these incredible artists like John Mellencamp are unrepeatable😢😢😢
This is now considered "Classic rock" he says his music influences are James Brown and Woody Guthrie(an American folk singer) Bob Dylan ( folk somger) and the Rolling Stones . I think in his music there is a little bit of everything. He is from the heartland of America (Indiana) so the plight of the working class is how he grew up. I think if his music was released today it would be considered to be Country because of the expansion of the country categories, back in the 80's country sounded very different from what it is today so I think thats why he was considered rock and roll back then. When Mellencamp wrote Jack and Diane he originally wrote it as the story of an interracial couple trying to make it in middle America but the record label thought it would be too controversial. So he re-wrote the song making it what we all love today.
Cherry Bombs, Little Pink Houses, and Paper in Fire, please! Oh yeah, and he does a great Van Morrison cover with an awesome female bass player, Meshell ndegeocello, Wild Nights.
It is a throwback to old school-rock-and-tell-a-story-roll music, if we have to put it in a category. Seriously tho, that is what JM does with almost all of his music, he finds a thread that all of us can relate to, or at least understand, and puts it to music. The others have pointed you towards the other good stuff from him, I think you will enjoy it. At 62, I don't think I have reached the point where the thrill of livin' is gone. It peaks again when you become a grandparent. Sorta like you get a return on investment from raising your kids.
I loved your breakdown of this song. I love how you're able to unpack it and then put it back together to present it. Peace to you too, J. And please stay safe from Covid x✌️
This song brings back a lot of memories. I was working in a small town mom and pop pizza shop and this came on all the time. This song has an awesome video too. Btw, I love the the way you really get into the music. Looks like you’re in another world. Groovin’ to the music lol.
I really like story-songs. John Cougar Mellencamp is really good, a nice friendly rabbit hole to be explored. Heavy stuff like "Rain on the Scarecrow" to movers like "Rockin' In the USA".
Absolutely fantastic Jay what memories that brings back for me I've got a CD in my car you will have to listen to more of his music Jay he is great Thanks
He also allowed Jessica Simpson to Sample this Melody for I think I'm in love with you. He also had another personal favorite called R.O.C.K. In The USA. He never fell into the Celebrity of being a Rock Star. He's alos from Indiana which is the birthplace of The Jackson Five as well as late Designer Bill Blass and it's where Designer Roy Halston Frowick aka "Halston" grew up before moving to Chicago. Sadly enough Halston died of AIDS related illness in 1990.
I had 3 back to back blocked videos tonight guys so this is my last upload.
Sorry to hear jovaughn. I am raising a glass of wine, too you in getting to 100k. Have a great evening.
John’s very cool ♥️ he was John Cougar Mellencamp, John Cougar 🤣
You gotta check out Hurts So Good by John Mellencamp next.
Jackson H Studios yesss!
Thanx for trying.
Yay "Hurts So Good" a fun upbeat song. The Authority song also.
Yes and yes!!’
John Mellencamp -- "Small Town", "Pink Houses", "Hurts So Good", "Crumblin' Down", "Authority Song", "I Need a Lover", "Lonely Ol' Night", "R.O.C.K. in the USA!" along with many others all worth checking out. I saw him open for Heart back when he went by the name John Cougar. Great show. He out did Heart by a mile.
"Rain on the Scarecrow."
Lonesome jubilee! I went to that concert in Sydney, absolutely rocked. Kenny on drums, the back up singers, the entire show was one of the best I’ve seen. I’ve seen U2, AC/DC, Sting, Fleetwood Mac, Springsteen.....lots of concerts. JCM can hold his own with them all.
YES!
Definitely check out hurts so good
Yes, you named the great ones for sure!!!
My favorite John “don’t call me Cougar” Mellencamp song is Cherry Bomb. Great song.
Yeah, although I love a lot of his songs, Cherry Bomb is my favorite. It's kind of like Jack and Diane all grown up.
It's a belter
I love a lot of his songs but that is up there along with Paper in Fire
This song means so much to me. It would be on the radio all the time when I was a kid in the 80s. Knew it well. Then, I grew up in the 90s, found my own music, and probably went at least 10 years without hearing this song. Then one night, sitting at a traffic stop about 24 years old, this song plays, and that line "Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone" hit me like a ton of bricks. So true. Its amazing how some lyrics can have little meaning at one point of your life then, somewhere down the road, it can mean everything.
He got heavily into the "save the farms" campaign, "Pink Houses", "Small Town", "Hurts so Good" and "Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow". A lot of great songs! I had 3 of his albums. (and listened to them!)
Ain’t Even Done With the Night was an early hit, back when he was known as “John Cougar”. Every time I hear it, it makes me smile:)
My favorite JCM song
Yeah the record label made him add Couger and he hated it.
My earliest purchase of his was a UK only release, found him in the import section under Cougar!! Fell in love on the first track.
This is my favorite song of his , it was a depiction of love and the times .
I've always loved this lyric: "Hold onto 16 as long as you can / Change is coming round real soon, make us women and men" 🧡
I was about to write that.
You are so right great lyrics!
“Hurts so good” is a must! 💜❤️✌️✨
John Mellencamp is one of my all-time favorites. My favorite song from him is "Ain't Even Done With The Night."
John Mellencamp - Crumblin' Down John Mellencamp - Lonely Ol' Night John Mellencamp - Hand To Hold On To
Probably his biggest hit among Many."Rain on the scarecrow blood on the plow".One of my favorites.
Great one! also “Hurts so good!”✌️✨
@@kimberlinibambini1988 Oh yeah that was a great one too. "Check it out" was another of my favorites.
I think his biggest hit was "R.O.C.K. in the USA" (which has a small but great role in the movie "Renaissance Man").
Heck yeah my home state guy. Actually met him and heard him sing this song in high school before he made it big and recorded it. Thanks. He has some awesome music.
my aunt was his house keeper back in the day....my cousin and myself used to go over and hang out with him. he is really cool and down to earth.
Are you from Seymour?
See more butts.
@@Terri6868 naw Bloomington]
my aunt worked for john when he lived in the house out by lake monroe. the one he gave away in the little pink houses contest
steven mitchell I see his second home. I live in Seymour
I’m glad you finally got to John. We are from the same “Small Town”. My husband went to school with him. He broke my husbands nose in PE. Most of Johns songs come straight from the heartland of Indiana, most of his videos are shot in my county. My favorite song “Pink Houses” I watch them shoot some of it about a mile from my house. John has some great songs. Hope you do some more of his songs. He sings about the true Heartland of America. Another good one is Cherry Bomb”👍🔥
J, He had 2 great sing-a-long songs. "Pink Houses" and "Small Town". You'll love his "Hurts So Good" "I Need A Lover". He's a rocker!!
Hurts So Good and Little Pink Houses are two of my favs from him. Yeah, hold on to 16 as long as you can.
Authority Song. You’ll love it.
You is gonna like this. There is a long list of his songs to react to. Authority Song, Hurts So Good, for a few. His music sounds great riding a bike down the road. Thumbs up
I think Mellencamp may be his own category. Paper and Fire is my pick.
Love John Mellencamp AKA John Cougar or John Cougar Mellancamp. Have seen him in concert a few times. Great times!
Holly Favicchio he’s really great live. Puts his soul into it❤️✌️🌼
John can't be categorized. Just a great musician, songwriter and performer. Great introduction to a bona fide GOAT.
John Mellencamp from Seymore, Indiana. His song, Small Town and Little Pink Houses are really amazing.
Hold on to 16 as long as you can!! Lots of good memories back then!
Got that right!
🙌😁
John Mellencamp did a cover with Meshell Ndegeocello of “Wild Nights,” the Van Morrison song. If pressed to choose, I prefer their version. (Jovaughn 100K!! I’ve been a little distracted and didn’t realize this was happening so soon. 🥂)
Congratulations jovonne!! You've reached 100,000 subscribers. Good on you!
My grandmother was a seamstress for Bobbie Brooks
Many great songs from this band, starting as John Cougar, then to John Cougar-Mellencamp. From small town of Seymour Indiana. Great drummer, Kenny Arinoff.
That’s were I live now. I live about 1 mile from where they did Pink Houses. 😂
Back when he was John Cougar Mellencamp. My first designer jeans were Bobbie Brooks. Always makes me smile when he calls them that. Those changes came so soon, too soon.
He's got a lot of great songs but you should probably do "Pink Houses" next.
a MUST John Mellencamp song to listen to is "Cherry Bomb" - great song
He used to use the name John Cougar, then to John Cougar Mellencamp but now just John Mellencamp. I like his music👍
After his initial success, which afforded him a bit more clout, he first changed “Johnny” (a name he had never gone by) back to “John” and then tacked his real surname back on. So, he actually went from “John Mellencamp” to “Johnny Cougar” to “John Cougar” to “John Cougar Mellencamp” and back to “John Mellencamp.” So, there ya go. His birthday is tomorrow BTW and he's also a painter. Def have to do Hurts So Good.
Another tidbit, his daughter, Teddy, is on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
thanks for the info, I was wondering where the "Cougar" has been gone.
The twins Jack & Diane from Blackish are named after this song!
Yes, they were so outdone when they heard it. 😅
I didn't know that. Thanks
Jon cougar mellencamp great performer been around since the70's great song.
Loved this song when it came out. My favorite of his is “Ain’t even done with the night”.
An original founder of Farm Aid. You really should check out some of those videos.
Love John Cougar Mellencamp. He's got such a unique beautiful voice.
I was about 12 when this song came out on the radio. I couldn't get enough. I became a John "Cougar" fan. His real last name came later.
This song never gets old, its still good today or now. Never get tired of it!
Fan of John since the 80’s and fortunate enough to see him in concert twice. Minutes to Memories, Sweet Evening Breeze, What if I came Knocking, I’m Not Running Anymore, You’re Life is Now, Paper In Fire, Pop Singer, The Real Life to name a few of John’s songs I really like.
You wanna hear a good John Melloncamp song? react to "Scarcrow" --Watch with lyrics, he's a great American story teller!
One word. Rock. Plain and simple rock.
I always loved his first song “Ain’t Even Done With the Night” the best, but he has a considerable catalog of hits throughout the 80s.
Small Town,Crumbling Down and Pink Houses, there is so much to unpack here.
This song was played on mainstream pop and rock stations. It was played a lot in 1982. This was the song that introduced me to him as an artist.
This came out in the very early 80’s when I was in 1st grade. It’s simple, classic, American rock. This song was HUGE on the radio!
Shout out to Mellencamp’s band members. Though his personnel has changed over the years, he always picks excellent backing musicians, especially David Grissom! And I agree his concerts were great rocking fun!
My favorite song of his is "Paper in Fire".
I also love that the twins from "black ish" are named after this song.
I believe Paper In Fire won a Grammy and the entire albumn Lonesome Jubilee is an amazing albumn.
JOHN COUGAR, "JACK AND DIANE", EARLY DAYS OF VIDEOS, AND MTV... THE CONTINUATION OF 60'S,70'S YOUNGER, BABY BOOMERS MUSIC THAT'S MY CATEGORIZING OF THE 80'S AWESOME SOUNDS....
Hurts So Good, Pink Houses, Small Town. Paper In Fire. Cherry Bomb, Authority Song....
So many good ones.
Rain on the Scarecrow
@@GrowingUpJersey thanks i had that then deleted it lol... that one of my top favs. Relate to it so well. Grew up 50 miles from John in farmland and watched family lose farms as well. Thanks.
When I was in high school, my English 2 class had an assignment to choose one line from a song that meant a lot to you, write an essay about it, etc. The line I chose was, "Life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone," from this song. That line still gives me goosebumps when I listen to it, even all these years later.
Wow..I LOVE THIS SONG!!!
This brings back so many memories of high school! I saw him when he first came out. He was John Cougar back then. Puts on a great show!
One of my favorite song in high school.. God I miss the 80s.
Since the first time I heard “Jack & Diane” loved it and still do! It’s has a great story line and John Mellencamp voice is awesome, plus the beat & instrumental sounds were amazing. It was a #1 hit on the US Billboard in 1982 for 4 weeks. Looking forward to hear more John Mellencamp songs on your reaction.
aww, yes....great song. Brings me back to the 80's. He had some really great songs, check them out!
I remember this song so well!! John Mellencamp opened for Heart back in 1982...I know because I was there. It was the big concert that summer...everyone singing to Jack and Diane...I will never forget it!! 😊👍 one song that is even more quirky is Jackie O....it's about Jackie Onassis. It sounds like he made it up on the spot haha with an organ
It's Folk music!!!! Folk music is in between Rock n' Roll & Country music-Folk music....Love John!!!
Growing up in the rural midwest this song struck a lot of nerves, both for younger folk and older folk. Life goes on long after the thrill of livin' is gone...
its incredible , i was 17 when this came out . pretty much the age he's singing about . im 56 now , n hell i can so relate to this song more now than when i was 17 . almost makes me emotional . almost lol
Hi from the UK, I have not heard John mellencamp before, thanks for your reaction, I will certainly be looking for more now , he is great 🤗🤗🤗 .
@jayveeTV A bit of trivia for ya: this song was inspired by an interracial couple he saw at one of his shows. He thought it was cool and decided to write a song about it. In the song, Jack was black, Diana was white, and they were high school sweethearts just like any other. The label thought that would limit the success of the song and refused to release it without changed. John fought with them for awhile over it, because them being interracial and just a couple like any other was the point of the song but when the label was adamant about not releasing it, he finally changed John changed Jack to be "a football star."
It was really cool thing to learn (I'd only learned that about a year ago, myself) as my parents were interracial just like Jack & Diane, and were married the same time this song dropped.
In the video for "Ain't Even Down With the Night" his performance was inspired by James Brown, and "Wild Nights" is a duet with a killer bassist Me'Shell Ndegeocello from the 90's (one of my favorites).
John Mellencamp's story of a dude in constant battle with his labels: they changed his name (around this time he was known was John Cougar because the label thought "Mellencamp" wasn't marketable), his songs, his image, etc. He finally got to be big enough to call his own shots.
Ain't That America is a great song by him.
he has so many songs. He's really good in concert. Personal faves are the Authority Song, Paper in Fire, and Cherry Bomb. And Rain on the Scarecrow, which is an amazing song
Love John Mellencamp. Next reaction to his music needs to be “Little pink houses”
I wish you could've done more John Mellencamp reactions.
He's my all-time favourite. I got to see him in concert last year, and even in his 70s, he can still put on a show.
He’s got a lot of great songs!
“Ain’t even done with the night “ and “Crumblin’ down” are my picks
John's first stage name was John Cougar. He was from Seymour, Indiana. He later went to his real last name - Mellencamp. He has a song called I NEED A LOVER. It is fantastic. It has an incredibly loooong intro & I *love* it! He was younger when he wrote it. He said he'll never put that long of an intro on a song again. But it's a favorite of mine.
LIFE...DOES GO ON! LONG AFTER THE THRILL OF LIVING IS GONE! 👍👍👍😎😎😎
Yes! I love this song and the video. Great reaction! I haven’t seen many for this song.
"Dribble off those Bobbie Brooks" refers to a brand of designer jeans that were popular when this tune was released.
Also, today Oct. 7 is his birthday!
This song got a huge amount of airplay back in the day, yet I never got tired of it. Thanks.
Ive seen John Mellencamp twice in concert because my mom loves him.
In 2008, accomplished singer/songwriterJohn Mellencamp was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (very deservedly). The TH-cam video named "Induction of John Mellencamp is well worth watching." Billy Joel, who gives a tribute and introduction to John, is hilarious. Not to be missed is what John shares as he thanks those who've made a difference in his life. Big bonus: John performs several of his songs. Also, check out his live performances at Farm Aid benefits over the years. Love his performance of "Hurts So Good" in the 1995 one.
The reason that you're having a hard time placing the genre is because this is rural, midwestern focused rock n roll. There had been southern rock before this, which was rural focused. Had John come out a decade or two later he would have been country, but he was a hybrid between 50's rock and 2000's country. He was even hard to categorize back in the 80's. He was unapologetically unironic about culture and rural life, which is not to say naïve. Urbane irony, of course, became rock n roll's hermeneutic stance by the late 60's. JM bought the sound of rock and the hermeneutic stance of country. Rock critics pretty much hated JM, because he wasn't trying to tear down rural American values. If you listen closely to his music, you can hear his critique of the forces trying to undo small-town America, which is the greed of foreclosing on farms, moving factories to China or Mexico, and hypocrisy in its many forms.
Nice selection of music Jovaughn. Rounds things off for today just fine.
Yes, you should be clapping too 🥰 this is such a great song. Makes me feel old! Remember singing it at 16
Life does go on...long after the thrill of living is gone~😪SHIT- sorry y'all~✌
Allison Young Truth...
he knows that now...
@@TheGabrielAmerican depends on your perspective
When I was younger we called this kind of music "soft rock." I remember buying this album after my daughter was born because there isn't much swearing in it. I really like his focus on support for small towns and farms, and his songs Justice and Independence, Small Town, Pink Houses, Crumblin' Down and the Authority Song.
I hadn't listened to this magnificent work of art in a while, what a voice, the melody, and lyrics. It is simply perfect. So unfortunate that these incredible artists like John Mellencamp are unrepeatable😢😢😢
I saw Mellencamp when he toured with Willy Nelson and Bob Dylan. John blew me away! I danced my ass off his entire set!
This is now considered "Classic rock" he says his music influences are James Brown and Woody Guthrie(an American folk singer) Bob Dylan ( folk somger) and the Rolling Stones . I think in his music there is a little bit of everything. He is from the heartland of America (Indiana) so the plight of the working class is how he grew up. I think if his music was released today it would be considered to be Country because of the expansion of the country categories, back in the 80's country sounded very different from what it is today so I think thats why he was considered rock and roll back then. When Mellencamp wrote Jack and Diane he originally wrote it as the story of an interracial couple trying to make it in middle America but the record label thought it would be too controversial. So he re-wrote the song making it what we all love today.
That song was a huge hit along with "Hand to Hold On To" also on the same album. John is one of those rabbit holes you can go deep into.
John also did little pink houses.
This song was on the radio every 5 min in the 80’s.
Cherry Bombs, Little Pink Houses, and Paper in Fire, please! Oh yeah, and he does a great Van Morrison cover with an awesome female bass player, Meshell ndegeocello, Wild Nights.
Love Mellencamp, saw him live twice.
It is a throwback to old school-rock-and-tell-a-story-roll music, if we have to put it in a category.
Seriously tho, that is what JM does with almost all of his music, he finds a thread that all of us can relate to, or at least understand, and puts it to music. The others have pointed you towards the other good stuff from him, I think you will enjoy it.
At 62, I don't think I have reached the point where the thrill of livin' is gone. It peaks again when you become a grandparent. Sorta like you get a return on investment from raising your kids.
I loved your breakdown of this song. I love how you're able to unpack it and then put it back together to present it.
Peace to you too, J. And please stay safe from Covid x✌️
That's the great thing about the 80s. It was a time of experimentation. Musicians were making it up as the decade went along. There was no script.
This song brings back a lot of memories. I was working in a small town mom and pop pizza shop and this came on all the time. This song has an awesome video too. Btw, I love the the way you really get into the music. Looks like you’re in another world. Groovin’ to the music lol.
Middle America/Heartland Rock-n-Roll
" oh yeah life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone." So true.
This was filmed out at Monroe Reservoir outside Bloomington Indiana. I spent many, many summers hiking, swimming, and hunting geodes down there.
I really like story-songs. John Cougar Mellencamp is really good, a nice friendly rabbit hole to be explored. Heavy stuff like "Rain on the Scarecrow" to movers like "Rockin' In the USA".
Ain’t even done with the night is an often forgotten hit by John! And the song CHECK IT OUT. You should check that one out 😂
Absolutely fantastic Jay what memories that brings back for me I've got a CD in my car you will have to listen to more of his music Jay he is great Thanks
He also allowed Jessica Simpson to Sample this Melody for I think I'm in love with you. He also had another personal favorite called R.O.C.K. In The USA. He never fell into the Celebrity of being a Rock Star. He's alos from Indiana which is the birthplace of The Jackson Five as well as late Designer Bill Blass and it's where Designer Roy Halston Frowick aka "Halston" grew up before moving to Chicago. Sadly enough Halston died of AIDS related illness in 1990.