We’ve all done it: whizzing past houses, buildings, and people as we drive, we often ponder what life might be like if we lived in that house or worked at that job or walked in that random stranger’s shoes for the day. For most of us, the ideas fade quickly as we zoom ahead on the road. For John Mellencamp, one such instance stuck in his mind, inspiring him to write what would become a career- and genre-defining track from Uh-huh: “Pink Houses”.
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“Pink Houses” is one of a handful of songs that have become synonymous with the concept of Heartland rock (even if Mellencamp isn’t a fan of that particular subgenre). The song’s chorus is practically dripping with Americana imagery: “Ain’t that America for you and me / ain’t that America, something to see / ain’t that America, home of the free / little pink houses for you and me.”
In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Mellencamp recalled the exact moment he came up with the idea for “Pink Houses”. Interestingly, the idea started as a negative until Mellencamp shifted his perspective slightly.
The Moment That Inspired John Mellencamp’s “Pink Houses”
John Mellencamp released “Pink Houses” as the second single from Uh-huh on October 23, 1983. Earlier that year, Mellencamp had been driving through Indianapolis on Interstate 65 when he came upon an image that, at first, made him feel pity. “I saw a Black man holding either a cat or a dog,” Mellencamp told Rolling Stone. “He was sitting on his front lawn in front of a pink house in one of those s*****, cheap lawn chairs. I thought, ‘Wow, is this what life can lead to? Watching the f***in’ cars go by on the interstate?’ Then I imagined he wasn’t isolated, but he was happy. So, I went with that positive route.”
And despite the “ain’t that America” hook in the chorus, this song isn’t exactly patriotic. Mellencamp said the general public (and countless politicians who have used this song at their rallies) have misconstrued “Pink Houses” since its early 1980s release. “It sounds very rah-rah,” he said. “But it’s really an anti-American song. The American dream had pretty much proven itself as not working anymore. It was another way for me to sneak something in.”
Whether people fully understood what Mellencamp was trying to say or not, “Pink Houses” was a hit. The song peaked at No. 8 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 3 on the Mainstream Rock charts. It also charted in Canada and Australia. These days, it remains one of Mellencamp’s most ubiquitous songs and a defining track in the Heartland rock canon.
Photo by: Alan Singer/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
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