Comments | sachem_head: Pink Houses

sachem_head

Pink Houses

Apr 01, 2009 08:06

The lyrics of "Pink Houses" by John Mellencamp (listen to the song on Mellencamp's Last.fm page) are a social commentary, packed carefully into the confines of a three-minute pop song. As a songwriter, Mellencamp has kept it simple throughout his career. His songs are not quite as inventive or fine-crafted as a Bob Dylan or a Bruce Springsteen, but ( Read more... )

literature, americana, lyrics, close reading, music

Comments 3

panoramicgreen April 2 2009, 02:13:32 UTC

Oh, how I love this song. One of the houses I grew up in was pink, so when I first heard it, I had instant connection. (Interestingly, because my grandparents retired in Gulf Shores, AL, we also vacationed there-- until reading your post, I never realized that it's the city people who vacation there ( ... )

sachem_head April 2 2009, 03:01:23 UTC

Oh, I do like the song. I like a number of Mellencamp's songs. I had a number of his early albums on cassette tape, before I switched over to CD. "Pink Houses" definitely sticks with you. I was singing it to A. today, as I walked with her through the woods, to catch a spring glimpse of the Deerfield River.

I think I may have made a bit of a stretch with the "vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico" line. I was thinking Cancun. But certainly, there are much more accessible parts of the Gulf.

I think there's definitely the "we don't want to be those high rise people" in the song. It does verge on a "Real America" sentiment, but I think there's also the sense of hollow promises. I didn't even get into the question that Terry Gross asked him, about the song being used by the McCain campaign. Mellencamp's sensibility does interestingly straddle the culture war divide in the country.

What you said early on.... redbaydreamer April 2 2009, 17:07:07 UTC

About the man in the first verse finding happiness where he was resonated with me because I have seen Michael J. Fox on a few shows recently. He is talking about his new book and a special he will be having on ABC. What seems to make him tick and keep him going is that he has decided to be happy (or content) with his lot in life. Yes, he has parkinson's but he seems to be making a good life for himself not so much inspite of the disease but with the disease. I kind of think that is how the old guy is in the first verse. He is not just making the best of a difficult situation, he is making the best of the situation he finds himself in and maybe the guy in the second verse is too. After this little discussion I see this more as a "we may be from the midwest but we are happy about it" thumb their nose at the people who live on the coasts (and that could include Chicago on the north coast and Miami on the south coast) who don't really know us or see us or think we are important. There are some songs that you like because of the ( ... )