Damn you (not really; jk) Abe Lincoln!!! You just beat me to it. I was just about to say Paper in Fire. But yes, Paper in Fire is my favorite song period, not just by Mellencamp. In fact, half (5) of my top 10 favorite songs are by John Mellencamp. Paper in Fire, Cherry Bomb, Hurt So Good, Crumblin Down, and Wild Night. He has so damn many kick ass songs, it’s hard to pick just one or two.
In the early 1980s, MTV ran a contest called the “Pink Houses Party House Giveaway”. Viewers sent in postcards, and the winner and 25 friends were flown to Bloomington, Indiana to host a house party with John Cougar Mellencamp, who also played a live concert. The winner also received the deed to a non-toxic pink house, a pink Jeep, a new stereo, a garage full of Hawaiian Punch, a motorcycle ride, a free house show, and a private screening of Streets of Fire (1984). The winner was Susan Miles, a woman from Seattle,
I always took it as a realistic view of how the "American Dream" ain't what's it's cracked up to be for most of us. John was one of the main guys behind FarmAid. He sticks up for the little guy.
@@TheToledoTrumpton Some of us don 't even get that. Some of us get shoved into crappy little apartments that cost way too much. Or worse, no home at all.
Joh Mellancamp always make you think about America- for better and worse. And during the time these songs were written in the 80's, a lot of rural America was in economic crisis as factories shit down and moved offshore. Check out "Small Town" or even "Blood on the Scarecrow". Its Americana rock, but I think he's got a lot of soul too. He protests, but he's also really proud if his roots and it shows in his music.
This song is both tongue and cheek,pointing out the utter inequality that exists between the haves and the have nots in the USA, and that the current way of doing things, does not really give people freedom, but rather imprisons them in the lot they are living. The American dream is not accessible for most, even though they are all encouraged to chase it, and are seen as failures if the don’t achieve it. On the other hand there is an overwhelming hope to the song. That we can be the change necessary for the American dream to be real and attainable again
He is a great American story teller. He is known for expressing the point of view of small town Midwesterners. But he is in fact telling American or even human stories. Most of us have been in love, had our hearts broken, struggled to make ends meet, or mistrusted authority or the government and some point in our lives. Almost anyone can relate to his music.
In many ways most of the songs on the album Scarecrow are very much a similar to what is now called Americana music. Too country to be folk but too folk to be country. The song Rain on the Scarecrow talks about the death of farming which is close to John's heart.
Mellancamp epitomizes the voice of the Midwest. One of the greatest story tellers of our generation. Please check out "Rain on the Scarecrow" that talks about the plight of the American farmer in the 80's-90's.
You can't truly love anything or anyone without being able to pick out their or it's faults in an honest way and try to help them improve upon them. And none of that can ever happen without recognizing them and admitting to them. Otherwise you're not in love with something real or tangible,you're in love with a fantasy and living in denial. That's what I get from this song.
Amber-- You totally nailed it. A lot of people don't understand or get the cynical side to this song. It is ultimately pretty optimistic, but it addresses some of America's problems too. P.S. I grew up in Southern Indiana about 80 miles away from where he grew up and he got a house just 30 minutes away from where I went to college. He's a Hoosier Legend. I love your guy's channel. I'm Generation X and It's been supercool rediscovering the music of my childhood with you. Thanks bunches!
I am also from generation x! I grew up on John Mellencamp! My Mom had every album. I am Canadian but find myself relating to him a songs! I’ve been fortunate to see him twice in concert! He was awesome!!
"It's really an anti-American song," Mellencamp told Rolling Stone about "Pink Houses." "The American dream had pretty much proven itself as not working anymore. It was another way for me to sneak something in." Inspiration for this song came when Mellencamp was driving on Interstate 65 in Indianapolis.
And this was from the 80s and sadly it resonates even more today. He spot on! I grew up w JM songs and absolutely love him! He is a great storyteller and stands up for the working man and the most vulnerable!
Absolutely John Mellencamp's best song. Who would have guessed lots of people now would want that little pink house. Way better than a tiny house today!
John Mellencamp's choices are endless. Small Town is a song that brings out similar emotions as this one. One song of his that not too many people comment on is "Now More Than Ever" from 1991. The lyrics are appropriate now more than ever with all of the craziness throughout the world today. Now more than ever, the world needs love...
Let me say that I thoroughly enjoy viewing your reaction videos and appreciate how you take in the songs you react to, both lyrically and musically! John Cougar Mellencamp is from Seymour, IN and if I'm not mistaken, recorded most of his most popular hits in his home/garage studio in Bloomington, IN. A Midwesterner, this song hits home much more to anyone FROM the midwest (I'm from Columbus, OH and currently live in MN)............you both actually hit the meaning of this song simply by your comments! Even in a nation with problems and issues (more these days than ever before), so many of us are good people and Americans are still proud to be Americans amidst whatever turmoil is happening around them! "Ain't That America, Home Of The Free - Little Pink Houses For You And Me!" This is one of my personal favorite pop/rock songs ever!
John is as he proudly declares in his songs a small town working class middle American from the "Heartland of our country Indiana' he openly proclaims his respect for people who often struggle to survive, but his songs also have subtle jabs at the people upper class who exploit the working class
It is about when you put all the grandeur and hype that we get and give for being Americans, the fact is we often overlook the poor and disabled and those who cant help themselves. So most of us settle for little Pink Houses. Which means a shack or something so humble.
One of Mellencamp's best videos/songs TO ME.. I LOVE THIS VIDEO.. powerful images.. and Mellencamp is such an effen cool rocker.. and he's effen so goodlooking.. DAMN fine song to react to..
“This one has been misconstrued over the years because of the chorus - it sounds very rah-rah. But it’s really an anti-American song,” he told Rolling Stone in the same interview. “The American dream had pretty much proven itself as not working anymore. It was another way for me to sneak something in.” -John Mellencamp
I'm not sure how some misconstrued the Lyrics and meaning to this song which by the way is one of my favorites by him. It was pretty clear what he meant and he was basically holding up a mirror to our Society back then even in the midst of Reagan's Presidency and the whole "Shining Hill on a City" optimistic rhetoric at the time.
George H.W. Bush asked to use the song as a campaign slogan. John told him, "I'm glad you like my song, but I think you need to listen to the lyrics again."
“There’s a young man in a t shirt, listening to a rock and roll station, he’s got greasy hair, a greasy smile- he says lord this must be my destination.” That’s as good a line as bob dylan ever wrote about this country.
I saw John Melancamp in concert and he was great. I was so impressed. I saw Bob Dylan in concert and I was so disappointed. Bob Dylan sucked. Luckily, Bob opened up for Willy Nelson.
I love the darkness and maybe even despair? that is in the undertone of this song... "he's got an interstate running through his front yard", " the simple man pays the bills...". A changing world, dying traditions, the heartland being left behind. Many layers to Mellencamp's songs. Check out "Rain on the Scarecrow" for a bleaker view of things. Still musical and touching, but exploring the loss and change to the world of farming.
He wrote songs about the average guy/girl. He has rural roots, growing up on a farm and I can always hear it in his music. He was a big advocate for small farmers and "Scarecrow" was written about the struggle of trying to keep a small farm afloat. He owns a farm himself and still writes and sings. Side note, he very nearly died as a baby from a spinal defect. He survived due to an experimental surgery by a neurosurgeon who he kept in contact with up until the Dr.s death a few years ago.
John Mellencamp is an Indiana boy. I’m born and raised and still live in Indiana. This video looks like it was made here at home. His songs are so relatable to just about everyone!
White black or Brown when you were born with nothing like our grandparents were. When you achieve a home doesn't matter where it is it meant something. Nowadays everything's just taken for granted. Heaven in depth conversation with the older people in your house about what it was like when they were children. It'll be very eye opening to how easy we have it these days. And we owe it to our grandparents and their parents and their parents. Who had the hardest lives I could ever imagine.
I had his Uh - Huh album that had this song on it. "The thrills, the bills, the pills that kill", is the the lyric. I played that album to death, love that album a lot of great hits. I think some of his music refers to the Farm - Aid cause in the mid - 80's.
John was churning out the hits in the eighties! John had that midwestern, Indiana boy next door vibe! Check out hits, The Wall and R.O.C.K. In The USA! John, like Bruce Springsteen, sang proudly about the USA but the told the truth about the good and bad aspects in such a magnificent way! John was a big activist in the eighties for the farming crises. A lot of farmers, especially in the Midwest were losing their farms and many were friends and family of his! He, Willie Nelson, and other artists formed Farm Aide to assist farmers!!❤️❤️
John Mellencamp is hands down one of the greatest song writers of all time. This man could make a song and create a political message that most people could agree with. He was so in tune with his self in his music. The guy truly revolutionized the sound of rock and roll music but no one could copy him or make music that sounded like his. He spoke within his limits and within his experience which is what really made him special. You could listen to anyone else talk about world peace or the stop of wars but John Mellencamp spoke from his own real world experience and how he viewed the world from his own lens but within reality. He’s truly a relic and in my opinion is under appreciated in music. He would also write songs that were in reality of the average American and something we could actually relate with that weren’t based on sappy and sad lyrics.
Thanks guys, this song makes me so happy because it reminds of my grandmother's little pink house in Thomasville,Ga. that 's no longer standing, but when it was there it was the most wonderful place for me as a child to visit every summer.
Ronald Reagan asked to use this song in his 1984 re-election campaign (if I’m remembering correctly), and John said, “No. I think you’ve missed the point of the song.” It was either this song, or Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”…or maybe it was both.
John Mellencamp is a proud Hoosier. He donated 1.5 million bucks to help IU build The Mellencamp Pavillion. It's used as an indoor practice facility for not only football, but baseball, softball, soccer, and golf at Indiana University. When the wife and I left the Army in 1990, we attended--and graduated--from IU Bloomington. We remember John Mellencamp used to set up his band and play free concerts at the campus during the summer months. Proud Hoosier!
It's a protest song, ala Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land"... It's about the promise of America, how it hasn't come true, but we got the means to fulfill that promise. That's why it seems so bittersweet. Also, I saw in other comments recommending "Paper and Fire"... YES! One of my JCM faves as well 😊
Nowhere in the lyrics of "This land is your land..." does it allude to the point you made. It gives the virtues of America and the beauty of it. No word is spoken about potential being unfulfilled. The greatest gift ever given to American residents is the ability to own property .
@@bl18ce99 Lol, you should look into Woody & his thoughts a little more before you go making that comment. You can Google it, then you won’t look so silly. You also have to be able to understand sarcasm which, judging from your comment, you do not.
What artists like John Mellencamp & Woody Guthrie are saying is that, yes, Americans have much reason to celebrate our collective culture. Yet, the work ain't over... Our ideals of liberty & prosperity, and self determination, need constant maintenance, and a constant vigil of both patriotism and scepticism.
"Life, Liberty and the PURSUIT of Happiness..." Nowhere in our founding documents is anyone guaranteed success or happiness. People 'fail' for any number of reasons - that's life. Even the richest and most successful people die. If you were 'promised' success, you were lied to.
@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192 Jackj doesn't look silly at all - not like people who get their 'facts' from google and wiki, or the constant use a folk song from the Great Depression as a protest song always and forever in the present tense.
John Cougar, who became John Cougar Mellencamp, who returned to his roots as John Mellencamp, was early MTV at its core. His songs are as good today as they were almost 40 years ago. God, 40 years ago ...
The song is about "The Great American Dream" and that is what it is .... a dream. The reality for a lot of people is not living in nice Pink Houses but struggling to survive in poverty.
What I always took from this video is he's showing the good and the bad but he shows in the end that America is still great and they are all just having a good time singing and dancing
First, I love you guys! I remember when this song first came out. I always thought that it's about being proud to be an American. From the first verse, the old man with the interstate in the front yard is Happy! He has a home and a woman he loves; i.e. "I remember when you could stop a clock" he's telling her how beautiful she still is. Some of us might not have much but we are happy and grateful that we live in the home of the free. That's my take on it anyway! 😃🥰
Be happy that although you're poor you're lucky to be American, while the rich get richer off the backs of your cheap labor. And don't expect affordable Healthcare because that's for the commies.
This song was big on MTV. They used to do really cool contest back then and they had a Little Pink House contest. They gave away a whole damn house… they even gave away a town. Please tell me that I’m not the only one that remembers those contest and sent in your postcards too
This song is like Springsteen's "Born in the USA". It points out the contradiction between the constant praise that the USA is great while there are a lot of problems here. Not that people shouldn't be proud to be Americans, just that loudly proclaiming how much you love the nation doesn't make you a patriot. It's the actions you take to actually make it a better place. "Rain on the Scarecrow" is my favorite John Mellencamp song. Very much worth checking out but so are a lot of the recommendations here.
I highly recommend "Paper in fire." You get your steel guitar, your fiddle, your banjo, your accordion, your horns all in a Southern rock storytelling song.
John Cougar and the Zone....actually opened for KISS around 79 in Anaheim Convention Center. We boooo'd him off the stage at first but then started liking it!
John Mellencamp is one of the best “protest” singers. If you haven’t already, you should listen to Rain on the Scarecrow. He helped create Farm Aid with Willie Nelson to help the farmers who were losing all their family held farms under Reagan.
Well that's untrue. 85% of the Department of Agricultures budget goes to welfare. 2nd loans for equipment had record high interest rates. Caused by now the 2nd worse President Carter. 3rd who was in charge of the house Democrats back then
@dw, some of us actually lived during the fiasco named “Ronnie Rayguns”. His “trickle-down” economics was decried as “voodoo economics “ then and George HW Bush was dead on correct. I AM correct. Reagan obliterated thousands of family farms, setting them ripe for picking by corporations.
@@dilligaf25015 no you are wrong as most liberals are. I was there too. I had a savings account in 81. I was getting 14% on my savings. Now how much do you think interest was on farming equipment loans. All it takes is one or 2 years of bad crops. And a farmer can go under. I didn't see your peanut picker Jimmy Carter do anything about it. And what about your buddy Bill Gates buying up farmlands. Yep crickets. Nice try
John grew up near and currently lives in my wife's hometown of Bloomington, Indiana... Needless to say he is a big favorite of hers. Besides music he has taken up painting. We got to see some of his paintings on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame... they were doing a special exhibition when we visited Cleveland.
MTV had a Pink Houses Sweepstakes when this song was released in early 80s. The winner won a Pink House along with a house warming party with John Cougar as the entertainment !!
I live in Bloomington IN and see JCM occasionally. He isn't the nicest guy but I still enjoy his music. I remember when MTV gave away the house. His concerts are aways a fun time.
I'm from a small town And I met him and Springsteen as they sat together next to us in a small town horse show where their daughters both competed. They were so cool, sitting next to my daddy and I drinking beers and lamenting about being dads of horse kids like me. I've met many celebrities over the years but sitting there making small talk with two of the biggest rock stars in my lifetime talking bout horses and trucks and other cool shit and they were just cool as hell. I've been a fan since I was a tot, but this just made my year as a horse loving kid. I've seen them both since, and even met Springsteen backstage again once where he actually remembered me and my daddy. It was cool.
Amber What you said struck a chord, and is also expressed in the opening line of this song. "America's not perfect, but we've come so far... we have a ways to go, but the majority of us are good" That's what you said. Here is the first line of the song. "There's a black man with a black cat living in a black neighborhood, he's got an interstate running through his front yard, you know he thinks he's got it so good". The elderly blind man in the video is old enough to remember real racism, back of the bus, separate "but equal", lynching's, beatings, horrible things done by cruel white racists and all backed up by the Laws of the State. The fact that he has made it this far and lived to see an age where kids of my generation, the gen-xer's, didn't care what color you were. There will always be racists, but the vast majority of kids in the 80's liked everyone. All we wanted to do was party and have fun, and our attitude showed in our music and culture. This was the decade young America embraced rap and hip hop. We dated interracially and virtually nobody of our age cared. And if someone did care, we ignored them. And that's why I see this part of the song as a very grateful and hopeful part of the video. Can you image a man his age, (when this was filmed in the early 80's) that lived through the 1920;s, 30's, 40's up through the social movement of the 60's and finally by the 80's when I was a teen.. he can go to any store he wants, he can eat and any small town diner he wants, he can sit anywhere he wants on public transit, he can vote for whom ever he pleases, drink out of any fountain he wants, his grand kids and great grand kids can go to any school they want... and if any white person would be stupid enough to give him grief, there would be 10 white people jumping to his defense. And after all he's been through, having an interstate running through is front yard is nothing. Not everything is pretty. But not everything is ugly either.
One of the best Mellencamp songs we ever heard we never heard living on the East Coast. We moved back to Illinois when I retired and the following song was played a lot on Classic Rock radio stations. The song is called "Not Even Done With The Night" It's a song about date night for a young couple.
Little pink house (now called cookie cutter houses )is the little pink house with white fences in every little small town. He was in between country and rock. I think that made him so big. It has a great beat and rhythm.
John Mellencamp said that he would never be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because he pissed off so many record executives. You're eligible 25 years after your first album debuts, he's been eligible for a couple decades. Such a shame 😞
Love all his songs! There's so many. Another Hoosier here from Southern Indiana. Saw him and his family many many years ago at the Bloomington Mall of all places. About 30 minutes from my hometown. I just say hi. Didn't want to disturb his family outing. We thought it was so cool to see him. Great memory! Thanks guys! Paper in fire is my favorite of his songs and Cherry bomb which you've already reacted too! Watching still from Indiana!
He sings about small town America, the place many Americans grew up. I grew up in a place to this day is called a Village. I was surrounded by coal mine shafts and the only high rise was the smoke stacks at the brick yard. The train California Zepher ran on the tracks along side our home and we rode our bikes to the man made lakes that were dug to provide water for steam engines. Those tracks showed everyone there was more beyond our small community and a world yet to be discovered. I moved away, but to this day when I am back home, there is nothing better than driving to my roots ,my beginning.
John cougar is from my hometown so my town is very big on this handsome music legend! U hear a john cougar song around here and everybody in public reacts to it! One of my friends actually grew up with him when they were kids and my oldest son once went to school with John's son!
R-O-C-K in the USA, Hand To Hold On To and I Saw You first are top notch as well. Pink Houses like Jack and Diane describes small town life in America. To me Mellancamp is like a more accessible and poppier Bruce Springsteen.
I have made a personal tradition to play this song and R.O.C.K. in the USA ... EVERY July 4th!!! 🇺🇸 This man is an American staple!! 😃 I Need A Lover, Authority Song, Lonely Ol' Night, Crumblin Down, and Hand To Hold Onto!! As for this song meaning... Amber I believe what you stated is absolutely correct and is a good summary of what John is saying. 😊👍 @RobSquadReactions
One of my fav John Mellencamp songs - despite all the struggles, win or lose, this is America - Nobody is guaranteed success or happiness, rather it's the PURSUIT of Happiness that's listed as essential in The Declaration of Independence. I remember MTV ran a Pink House contest when this was very popular - where Mellencamp would be the House Band at a party when they gave away a pink house in Bloomington, IN (I didn't win). Other favorites; I NEED A LOVER (who won't drive me crazy), AUTHORITY SONG, and CHECK IT OUT.
John writes about the common man, the middle class, the lower middle class. He has done alot for farmers in America" Farm Aid" he writes how he sees it. Many of his videos back in the 80s were done on his hometown in Indiana with the people he grew up with.
Fav John Mellencamp songs - "Crumblin' Down", "Junior", "Lonely Ol' Night", "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.", "Human Wheels", "Paper in Fire", "Circling Around the Moon"
Finally!! Some is reacting John Mellencamp! Many great songs. John is a not only a great musician but also lyricist chronicling everyday working people and families.
I am 53 yrs old and I love the fact that y'all listen/react to all type of music, especially 70s, 80s and 90s. It brings me back to my younger days. Y'all are so genuine and down to earth. I especially loved what Amber said about US being an overall a good country trying to better ourselves. I hope more people feels this way. Keep doing what y'all are doing and Bless you and your family.
I recommend "Crumblin down", "Authority song", Paper in fire" and "Small town"
Paper and Fire has got to be my favorite if I had to pick one...great show too...I've seen him twice
Good songs. Also Scarecrow
Great choices and don’t forget Lonely Old Night!
@@ps5392 Good call, it's one of my favorite songs and I completely forgot.
Damn you (not really; jk) Abe Lincoln!!! You just beat me to it. I was just about to say Paper in Fire. But yes, Paper in Fire is my favorite song period, not just by Mellencamp. In fact, half (5) of my top 10 favorite songs are by John Mellencamp. Paper in Fire, Cherry Bomb, Hurt So Good, Crumblin Down, and Wild Night. He has so damn many kick ass songs, it’s hard to pick just one or two.
In the early 1980s, MTV ran a contest called the “Pink Houses Party House Giveaway”. Viewers sent in postcards, and the winner and 25 friends were flown to Bloomington, Indiana to host a house party with John Cougar Mellencamp, who also played a live concert. The winner also received the deed to a non-toxic pink house, a pink Jeep, a new stereo, a garage full of Hawaiian Punch, a motorcycle ride, a free house show, and a private screening of Streets of Fire (1984). The winner was Susan Miles, a woman from Seattle,
I always took it as a realistic view of how the "American Dream" ain't what's it's cracked up to be for most of us. John was one of the main guys behind FarmAid. He sticks up for the little guy.
Yeah, the big guys get the riches and the mansions, the high rise jobs, and the vacations in the gulf, and we just get the little pink houses.
@@TheToledoTrumpton Some of us don 't even get that. Some of us get shoved into crappy little apartments that cost way too much. Or worse, no home at all.
@@sisterdebmac Yeah, this was nearly 40 years ago. Sad how things have got worse.
Yea i agree
i agree too. i wouldnt mind a little pink house compared to what i currently live in lol
Joh Mellancamp always make you think about America- for better and worse. And during the time these songs were written in the 80's, a lot of rural America was in economic crisis as factories shit down and moved offshore. Check out "Small Town" or even "Blood on the Scarecrow". Its Americana rock, but I think he's got a lot of soul too. He protests, but he's also really proud if his roots and it shows in his music.
This song is both tongue and cheek,pointing out the utter inequality that exists between the haves and the have nots in the USA, and that the current way of doing things, does not really give people freedom, but rather imprisons them in the lot they are living. The American dream is not accessible for most, even though they are all encouraged to chase it, and are seen as failures if the don’t achieve it. On the other hand there is an overwhelming hope to the song. That we can be the change necessary for the American dream to be real and attainable again
Perfectly stated!
He is a great American story teller. He is known for expressing the point of view of small town Midwesterners. But he is in fact telling American or even human stories. Most of us have been in love, had our hearts broken, struggled to make ends meet, or mistrusted authority or the government and some point in our lives. Almost anyone can relate to his music.
Except the rich. They would have no idea what this hillbilly is saying.
My favorite John Cougar song of all times ❣️ We were so poor and didn’t even know it.
In many ways most of the songs on the album Scarecrow are very much a similar to what is now called Americana music. Too country to be folk but too folk to be country. The song Rain on the Scarecrow talks about the death of farming which is close to John's heart.
It was a really brave record for him to make, not least because the label wanted more hurts so good.
Mellancamp epitomizes the voice of the Midwest. One of the greatest story tellers of our generation. Please check out "Rain on the Scarecrow" that talks about the plight of the American farmer in the 80's-90's.
You can't truly love anything or anyone without being able to pick out their or it's faults in an honest way and try to help them improve upon them. And none of that can ever happen without recognizing them and admitting to them. Otherwise you're not in love with something real or tangible,you're in love with a fantasy and living in denial. That's what I get from this song.
Great insight 👍
Amber-- You totally nailed it. A lot of people don't understand or get the cynical side to this song. It is ultimately pretty optimistic, but it addresses some of America's problems too. P.S. I grew up in Southern Indiana about 80 miles away from where he grew up and he got a house just 30 minutes away from where I went to college. He's a Hoosier Legend. I love your guy's channel. I'm Generation X and It's been supercool rediscovering the music of my childhood with you. Thanks bunches!
I am also from generation x! I grew up on John Mellencamp! My Mom had every album. I am Canadian but find myself relating to him a songs! I’ve been fortunate to see him twice in concert! He was awesome!!
Yes rediscovering the music of my childhood has been wonderful...like reconnecting with an old friend.
John Mellencamp is one of the best singer/storytellers of all time!
"It's really an anti-American song," Mellencamp told Rolling Stone about "Pink Houses." "The American dream had pretty much proven itself as not working anymore. It was another way for me to sneak something in." Inspiration for this song came when Mellencamp was driving on Interstate 65 in Indianapolis.
And this was from the 80s and sadly it resonates even more today. He spot on! I grew up w JM songs and absolutely love him! He is a great storyteller and stands up for the working man and the most vulnerable!
He’s a country boy but a genius folksie storytelling singer ♥️
Absolutely John Mellencamp's best song. Who would have guessed lots of people now would want that little pink house. Way better than a tiny house today!
My favorite
John Mellencamp's choices are endless. Small Town is a song that brings out similar emotions as this one. One song of his that not too many people comment on is "Now More Than Ever" from 1991. The lyrics are appropriate now more than ever with all of the craziness throughout the world today. Now more than ever, the world needs love...
Let me say that I thoroughly enjoy viewing your reaction videos and appreciate how you take in the songs you react to, both lyrically and musically! John Cougar Mellencamp is from Seymour, IN and if I'm not mistaken, recorded most of his most popular hits in his home/garage studio in Bloomington, IN. A Midwesterner, this song hits home much more to anyone FROM the midwest (I'm from Columbus, OH and currently live in MN)............you both actually hit the meaning of this song simply by your comments! Even in a nation with problems and issues (more these days than ever before), so many of us are good people and Americans are still proud to be Americans amidst whatever turmoil is happening around them! "Ain't That America, Home Of The Free - Little Pink Houses For You And Me!" This is one of my personal favorite pop/rock songs ever!
OH
John is as he proudly declares in his songs a small town working class middle American from the "Heartland of our country Indiana' he openly proclaims his respect for people who often struggle to survive, but his songs also have subtle jabs at the people upper class who exploit the working class
Rain on the Scarecrow has always been my favorite.
Damn right. The plight of our American small farmers cannot be overstated.
It is about when you put all the grandeur and hype that we get and give for being Americans, the fact is we often overlook the poor and disabled and those who cant help themselves. So most of us settle for little Pink Houses. Which means a shack or something so humble.
John melloncamp is one of my all time favorites
One of Mellencamp's best videos/songs TO ME.. I LOVE THIS VIDEO.. powerful images.. and Mellencamp is such an effen cool rocker.. and he's effen so goodlooking.. DAMN fine song to react to..
This is my favorite song by John Mellencamp. Thanks for reacting - not many have!
“This one has been misconstrued over the years because of the chorus - it sounds very rah-rah. But it’s really an anti-American song,” he told Rolling Stone in the same interview. “The American dream had pretty much proven itself as not working anymore. It was another way for me to sneak something in.” -John Mellencamp
I'm not sure how some misconstrued the Lyrics and meaning to this song which by the way is one of my favorites by him. It was pretty clear what he meant and he was basically holding up a mirror to our Society back then even in the midst of Reagan's Presidency and the whole "Shining Hill on a City" optimistic rhetoric at the time.
@@xoxxobob61 Well, when Republicans played it at their rallies, I’d say they missed the point.
@@jlsage4059 Fair enough and agreed!
George H.W. Bush asked to use the song as a campaign slogan. John told him, "I'm glad you like my song, but I think you need to listen to the lyrics again."
I remember when this song came out on MTV. They were giving away a pink house in a contest. Those were the days!
I remember that as if it was yesterday. Truly good times growing up with such classic music as John Cougar Mellencamp!
I remember that.
One of the all time great songs about our country. It's good, it's bad, it's dirty, and it's triumphant.
“There’s a young man in a t shirt, listening to a rock and roll station, he’s got greasy hair, a greasy smile- he says lord this must be my destination.” That’s as good a line as bob dylan ever wrote about this country.
I saw John Melancamp in concert and he was great. I was so impressed. I saw Bob Dylan in concert and I was so disappointed. Bob Dylan sucked. Luckily, Bob opened up for Willy Nelson.
Or Springsteen.
@@johnthorne4093absolutely 💯
I love the darkness and maybe even despair? that is in the undertone of this song... "he's got an interstate running through his front yard", " the simple man pays the bills...". A changing world, dying traditions, the heartland being left behind. Many layers to Mellencamp's songs. Check out "Rain on the Scarecrow" for a bleaker view of things. Still musical and touching, but exploring the loss and change to the world of farming.
I was feet away from him when I saw him in concert. Amazing performance
yes i remember he tossed you his Guitar
Saw him live at Summerfest in Milwaukee in 1988. INCREDIBLE live!
I used to go to Summerfst in the seventies - great musicians at their venues there!
I saw him in Nashville and he was great. He opened up for John Foggerdy, and he was great too. I'm glad that I got to that concert.
Rain on the Scarecrow is a really great and powerful one to listen to as well.
He wrote songs about the average guy/girl. He has rural roots, growing up on a farm and I can always hear it in his music. He was a big advocate for small farmers and "Scarecrow" was written about the struggle of trying to keep a small farm afloat. He owns a farm himself and still writes and sings. Side note, he very nearly died as a baby from a spinal defect. He survived due to an experimental surgery by a neurosurgeon who he kept in contact with up until the Dr.s death a few years ago.
John Mellencamp is an Indiana boy. I’m born and raised and still live in Indiana. This video looks like it was made here at home. His songs are so relatable to just about everyone!
His intent, I believe is to spotlight the people and places, good and bad, that is America. A general cross section of who and what America is. 🇺🇸
Really and truly, one of the handful of songs I would call my favorite.
My favorite Mellencamp's song is "Rain on the Scarecrow" 🔥
Head East "Never Been Any Reason"
A True Rock Classic.
White black or Brown when you were born with nothing like our grandparents were. When you achieve a home doesn't matter where it is it meant something. Nowadays everything's just taken for granted. Heaven in depth conversation with the older people in your house about what it was like when they were children. It'll be very eye opening to how easy we have it these days. And we owe it to our grandparents and their parents and their parents. Who had the hardest lives I could ever imagine.
John Cougar - Crumblin Down ( Some good dance moves in there!)
I had his Uh - Huh album that had this song on it. "The thrills, the bills, the pills that kill", is the the lyric. I played that album to death, love that album a lot of great hits. I think some of his music refers to the Farm - Aid cause in the mid - 80's.
John was churning out the hits in the eighties! John had that midwestern, Indiana boy next door vibe! Check out hits, The Wall and R.O.C.K. In The USA! John, like Bruce Springsteen, sang proudly about the USA but the told the truth about the good and bad aspects in such a magnificent way! John was a big activist in the eighties for the farming crises. A lot of farmers, especially in the Midwest were losing their farms and many were friends and family of his! He, Willie Nelson, and other artists formed Farm Aide to assist farmers!!❤️❤️
John Mellencamp is hands down one of the greatest song writers of all time. This man could make a song and create a political message that most people could agree with. He was so in tune with his self in his music. The guy truly revolutionized the sound of rock and roll music but no one could copy him or make music that sounded like his. He spoke within his limits and within his experience which is what really made him special. You could listen to anyone else talk about world peace or the stop of wars but John Mellencamp spoke from his own real world experience and how he viewed the world from his own lens but within reality. He’s truly a relic and in my opinion is under appreciated in music. He would also write songs that were in reality of the average American and something we could actually relate with that weren’t based on sappy and sad lyrics.
Thanks guys, this song makes me so happy because it reminds of my grandmother's little pink house in Thomasville,Ga. that 's no longer standing, but when it was there it was the most wonderful place for me as a child to visit every summer.
Ronald Reagan asked to use this song in his 1984 re-election campaign (if I’m remembering correctly), and John said, “No. I think you’ve missed the point of the song.” It was either this song, or Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA”…or maybe it was both.
J. Mellencamp 💜 Nothin' but love for ya, baby! ✌️
Love his music and this is my favorite. Blood on the Scarecrow is a great song by him about farmers troubles
John Mellencamp is a proud Hoosier. He donated 1.5 million bucks to help IU build The Mellencamp Pavillion. It's used as an indoor practice facility for not only football, but baseball, softball, soccer, and golf at Indiana University. When the wife and I left the Army in 1990, we attended--and graduated--from IU Bloomington. We remember John Mellencamp used to set up his band and play free concerts at the campus during the summer months. Proud Hoosier!
It's a protest song, ala Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land"... It's about the promise of America, how it hasn't come true, but we got the means to fulfill that promise. That's why it seems so bittersweet. Also, I saw in other comments recommending "Paper and Fire"... YES! One of my JCM faves as well 😊
Nowhere in the lyrics of "This land is your land..." does it allude to the point you made. It gives the virtues of America and the beauty of it. No word is spoken about potential being unfulfilled. The greatest gift ever given to American residents is the ability to own property .
@@bl18ce99 Lol, you should look into Woody & his thoughts a little more before you go making that comment. You can Google it, then you won’t look so silly. You also have to be able to understand sarcasm which, judging from your comment, you do not.
What artists like John Mellencamp & Woody Guthrie are saying is that, yes, Americans have much reason to celebrate our collective culture. Yet, the work ain't over... Our ideals of liberty & prosperity, and self determination, need constant maintenance, and a constant vigil of both patriotism and scepticism.
"Life, Liberty and the PURSUIT of Happiness..." Nowhere in our founding documents is anyone guaranteed success or happiness. People 'fail' for any number of reasons - that's life. Even the richest and most successful people die. If you were 'promised' success, you were lied to.
@@goldenageofdinosaurs7192 Jackj doesn't look silly at all - not like people who get their 'facts' from google and wiki, or the constant use a folk song from the Great Depression as a protest song always and forever in the present tense.
Perfection...he accomplished a lot with this song
John Cougar, who became John Cougar Mellencamp, who returned to his roots as John Mellencamp, was early MTV at its core. His songs are as good today as they were almost 40 years ago. God, 40 years ago ...
Stop saying 40 years out loud! It hurts too much. lol
The song is about "The Great American Dream" and that is what it is .... a dream. The reality for a lot of people is not living in nice Pink Houses but struggling to survive in poverty.
Love John M great songs thank you for bringing back great memories
What I always took from this video is he's showing the good and the bad but he shows in the end that America is still great and they are all just having a good time singing and dancing
First, I love you guys! I remember when this song first came out. I always thought that it's about being proud to be an American. From the first verse, the old man with the interstate in the front yard is Happy! He has a home and a woman he loves; i.e. "I remember when you could stop a clock" he's telling her how beautiful she still is. Some of us might not have much but we are happy and grateful that we live in the home of the free. That's my take on it anyway! 😃🥰
Be happy that although you're poor you're lucky to be American, while the rich get richer off the backs of your cheap labor. And don't expect affordable Healthcare because that's for the commies.
This song was big on MTV. They used to do really cool contest back then and they had a Little Pink House contest. They gave away a whole damn house… they even gave away a town. Please tell me that I’m not the only one that remembers those contest and sent in your postcards too
This song is like Springsteen's "Born in the USA". It points out the contradiction between the constant praise that the USA is great while there are a lot of problems here. Not that people shouldn't be proud to be Americans, just that loudly proclaiming how much you love the nation doesn't make you a patriot. It's the actions you take to actually make it a better place.
"Rain on the Scarecrow" is my favorite John Mellencamp song. Very much worth checking out but so are a lot of the recommendations here.
Yes "Rain on the Scarecrow" needs to be next JCM for them!.
DIVERSITY !!! That's his message... how beautiful America is !
(Check It Out), (Ain’t Even Done With The Night) and (Rain On The Scarecrow) are some of my favorites by him.
One of the best songs ever... Peace!!!
I highly recommend "Paper in fire." You get your steel guitar, your fiddle, your banjo, your accordion, your horns all in a Southern rock storytelling song.
John Cougar and the Zone....actually opened for KISS around 79 in Anaheim Convention Center. We boooo'd him off the stage at first but then started liking it!
❤️❤️❤️❤️he tells stories I love that about him , and love the clapping in the background ❣️
Greatest songwriter ever. Greatest rock song ever written
John Mellencamp is one of the best “protest” singers. If you haven’t already, you should listen to Rain on the Scarecrow. He helped create Farm Aid with Willie Nelson to help the farmers who were losing all their family held farms under Reagan.
Well that's untrue. 85% of the Department of Agricultures budget goes to welfare. 2nd loans for equipment had record high interest rates. Caused by now the 2nd worse President Carter. 3rd who was in charge of the house Democrats back then
@@gbrjoker Aww, bless your poor, deluded heart.😞
@@Hexon66 nothing deluded about it just well read. You ought to try it
@dw, some of us actually lived during the fiasco named “Ronnie Rayguns”. His “trickle-down” economics was decried as “voodoo economics “ then and George HW Bush was dead on correct. I AM correct. Reagan obliterated thousands of family farms, setting them ripe for picking by corporations.
@@dilligaf25015 no you are wrong as most liberals are. I was there too. I had a savings account in 81. I was getting 14% on my savings. Now how much do you think interest was on farming equipment loans. All it takes is one or 2 years of bad crops. And a farmer can go under. I didn't see your peanut picker Jimmy Carter do anything about it. And what about your buddy Bill Gates buying up farmlands. Yep crickets. Nice try
Saw John Cougar as an opening act for the Kinks.
After the concert all everyone talked about was John Cougar.
John grew up near and currently lives in my wife's hometown of Bloomington, Indiana... Needless to say he is a big favorite of hers. Besides music he has taken up painting. We got to see some of his paintings on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame... they were doing a special exhibition when we visited Cleveland.
Southern Indiana, my friends and I 16 years old, watched Johnny Cougar sing at the Bluebird in Bloomington, before he got famous.❤️❤️
Back in Hoosier land in the early 80s and watching Bobby Knight coach some basketball. Fun times
@@cherylbrown3366 yes! And Axl Rose up in Lafayette, fun times indeed.😎
@Tina Makaneole Dam I miss those days. My sister actually interviewed him for the IU school paper before he made it big.
@@cherylbrown3366 wow, now that’s special. I’ve always loved the guy.
MTV had a Pink Houses Sweepstakes when this song was released in early 80s. The winner won a Pink House along with a house warming party with John Cougar as the entertainment !!
I live in Bloomington IN and see JCM occasionally. He isn't the nicest guy but I still enjoy his music. I remember when MTV gave away the house. His concerts are aways a fun time.
And it was on a landfill or something goofy
I'm from a small town And I met him and Springsteen as they sat together next to us in a small town horse show where their daughters both competed. They were so cool, sitting next to my daddy and I drinking beers and lamenting about being dads of horse kids like me. I've met many celebrities over the years but sitting there making small talk with two of the biggest rock stars in my lifetime talking bout horses and trucks and other cool shit and they were just cool as hell. I've been a fan since I was a tot, but this just made my year as a horse loving kid. I've seen them both since, and even met Springsteen backstage again once where he actually remembered me and my daddy. It was cool.
How about some early 'Cougar', "Ain't Even Done With The Night" or "I Need A Lover" (long version with guitar intro) are excellent
I live just down the road from John’s hometown of Seymour, IN. You need to listen to Cherry Bomb or Paper In Fire!
Amber
What you said struck a chord, and is also expressed in the opening line of this song. "America's not perfect, but we've come so far... we have a ways to go, but the majority of us are good" That's what you said.
Here is the first line of the song.
"There's a black man with a black cat living in a black neighborhood, he's got an interstate running through his front yard, you know he thinks he's got it so good".
The elderly blind man in the video is old enough to remember real racism, back of the bus, separate "but equal", lynching's, beatings, horrible things done by cruel white racists and all backed up by the Laws of the State. The fact that he has made it this far and lived to see an age where kids of my generation, the gen-xer's, didn't care what color you were. There will always be racists, but the vast majority of kids in the 80's liked everyone. All we wanted to do was party and have fun, and our attitude showed in our music and culture. This was the decade young America embraced rap and hip hop. We dated interracially and virtually nobody of our age cared. And if someone did care, we ignored them.
And that's why I see this part of the song as a very grateful and hopeful part of the video.
Can you image a man his age, (when this was filmed in the early 80's) that lived through the 1920;s, 30's, 40's up through the social movement of the 60's and finally by the 80's when I was a teen.. he can go to any store he wants, he can eat and any small town diner he wants, he can sit anywhere he wants on public transit, he can vote for whom ever he pleases, drink out of any fountain he wants, his grand kids and great grand kids can go to any school they want... and if any white person would be stupid enough to give him grief, there would be 10 white people jumping to his defense.
And after all he's been through, having an interstate running through is front yard is nothing.
Not everything is pretty. But not everything is ugly either.
Well said.
John has soooo many great hits!!!!!!
One of the best Mellencamp songs we ever heard we never heard living on the East Coast. We moved back to Illinois when I retired and the following song was played a lot on Classic Rock radio stations. The song is called "Not Even Done With The Night" It's a song about date night for a young couple.
There's dignity in the struggle of the common man the John weaves into a tapestry of song.
My favorite is still his first hit Ain’t even done with the night….. fell in love with his music at 13 and still a fan
I think it represents the duality of our country, the good and the bad.
Little pink house (now called cookie cutter houses )is the little pink house with white fences in every little small town. He was in between country and rock. I think that made him so big. It has a great beat and rhythm.
also my town for instance was a small town and now there is a highway through peoples back yard and things change.
I see it as just describing life in small town America with no sugar coating.
John Mellencamp said that he would never be inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because he pissed off so many record executives. You're eligible 25 years after your first album debuts, he's been eligible for a couple decades. Such a shame 😞
Yes, well he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, so I'm not sure what you're talking about.
MTV had a contest, and the grand prize was a house in Melloncamp's hometown on the condition they paint the house pink.
Love all his songs! There's so many. Another Hoosier here from Southern Indiana. Saw him and his family many many years ago at the Bloomington Mall of all places. About 30 minutes from my hometown. I just say hi. Didn't want to disturb his family outing. We thought it was so cool to see him. Great memory! Thanks guys! Paper in fire is my favorite of his songs and Cherry bomb which you've already reacted too! Watching still from Indiana!
He sings about small town America, the place many Americans grew up. I grew up in a place to this day is called a Village. I was surrounded by coal mine shafts and the only high rise was the smoke stacks at the brick yard. The train California Zepher ran on the tracks along side our home and we rode our bikes to the man made lakes that were dug to provide water for steam engines. Those tracks showed everyone there was more beyond our small community and a world yet to be discovered. I moved away, but to this day when I am back home, there is nothing better than driving to my roots ,my beginning.
It's AMERICA been listening to John since around 1978 from the same state, always feel a deep connection to his music, love your reviews Thank You
I love your channel and I never miss an episode but it’s hard to believe this is the first time y’all have heard some of these songs.
Ordinary people together make a place that is very extraordinary...
Mellencamp was in the zone from 1982-1988 with American Fool, Uh-Huh, Scarecrow and Lonesome Jubilee...all top shelf albums.
Absolutely Froggy. These are my favorite John Mellencamp albums. He had some good songs on other albums, but these four stand out from the rest.
John cougar is from my hometown so my town is very big on this handsome music legend! U hear a john cougar song around here and everybody in public reacts to it! One of my friends actually grew up with him when they were kids and my oldest son once went to school with John's son!
Ain't Even Done With The Night !
That is a John Cougar must see.. hopeless romantic 50's and 60's vibe of a song and video
R-O-C-K in the USA, Hand To Hold On To and I Saw You first are top notch as well. Pink Houses like Jack and Diane describes small town life in America. To me Mellancamp is like a more accessible and poppier Bruce Springsteen.
'WILD NIGHT' he has a guest Bass player, she rocks. & 'Aint even done with the night'.
I have made a personal tradition to play this song and R.O.C.K. in the USA ... EVERY July 4th!!! 🇺🇸 This man is an American staple!! 😃
I Need A Lover, Authority Song, Lonely Ol' Night, Crumblin Down, and Hand To Hold Onto!!
As for this song meaning... Amber I believe what you stated is absolutely correct and is a good summary of what John is saying. 😊👍
@RobSquadReactions
One of my fav John Mellencamp songs - despite all the struggles, win or lose, this is America - Nobody is guaranteed success or happiness, rather it's the PURSUIT of Happiness that's listed as essential in The Declaration of Independence. I remember MTV ran a Pink House contest when this was very popular - where Mellencamp would be the House Band at a party when they gave away a pink house in Bloomington, IN (I didn't win). Other favorites; I NEED A LOVER (who won't drive me crazy), AUTHORITY SONG, and CHECK IT OUT.
John writes about the common man, the middle class, the lower middle class. He has done alot for farmers in America" Farm Aid" he writes how he sees it. Many of his videos back in the 80s were done on his hometown in Indiana with the people he grew up with.
My favorite male rocker!! I've seen him in concert 4 times. He's remarkable in concert! Master musician!
Must listen to “Rain on the Scarecrow”. That song will give you goosebumps.
Fav John Mellencamp songs - "Crumblin' Down", "Junior", "Lonely Ol' Night", "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.", "Human Wheels", "Paper in Fire", "Circling Around the Moon"
Finally!! Some is reacting John Mellencamp! Many great songs.
John is a not only a great musician but also lyricist chronicling everyday working people and families.
What is really cool about this song is he gave away a pink house.
I am 53 yrs old and I love the fact that y'all listen/react to all type of music, especially 70s, 80s and 90s. It brings me back to my younger days. Y'all are so genuine and down to earth. I especially loved what Amber said about US being an overall a good country trying to better ourselves. I hope more people feels this way. Keep doing what y'all are doing and Bless you and your family.