John Mellencamp and the 1985 album ‘Scarecrow’

John Mellencamp was still using the name John Cougar Mellencamp when the outstanding 1985 album Scarecrow was published. We at Matt Lynn Digital decided to revisit this small town America tribute. Click through to the songs as we share the songs and some thoughts we have for what we consider a great album, originally published on August 5th, 1985.

(This is the album cover for the 1985 John Mellencamp album Scarecrow, which featured  top ten United States singles Lonely Ol’ Night, Small Town, and R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.).

Rain on the Scarecrow opened the album Scarecrow. Having charted as high as 21 in the United States per Songfacts, the song announces a social consciousness for farming that defines the album sensibility along with the concerns of Mellencamp himself.

Grandma’s Theme offers a small sense of parenthood, responsibility and a sense of the different pulls of expectation when living a salt-of-the-earth, honest life.

Having charted at 6 in the United States and 53 in the United Kingdom, Small Town offers insight into Mellencamp‘s experiences growing up in Seymour, Indiana. The song has a catchy baseline with a commonplace perspective of wishing to be left alone to fine one’s own way in growing up to be just who people want to be.

(The cover for the single Small Town, as performed by John Mellencamp on the album Scarecrow).

Minutes to Memories continues to catch a perspective of what it was like to live a life in small town, USA. The perspective here is working in steel mills of Gary, Indiana on the northwest part of that state. The perspective is one of hard work and modest living, birthing memories and attitudes that form an attitude of determination about life.

The song Lonely Ol’ Night charted sixth in the United States. In harkening back to The Four Tops song Standing In The Shadows Of Love, and in making its own statement about hoping for love, hopeful yet wistfulness come through strong in offering a distinctively Mellencamp sound.

(The cover for the single Lonely Ol’ Night, as performed by John Mellencamp on the album Scarecrow).

The Face of the Nation harkens back to a rockabilly sound acknowledges the difficulty of broken dreams and the stalwart quality of character the hard times build. A definite thought I hear is to look into the mirror the see precisely the title of this song.

Justice and Independence ’85 took a unique approach to telling the story of a love affair by personifying the abstract notions of Independence, Justice and Nation as a couple birthing a baby. Extending the metaphorical notions of the political into the familiar notions of family made for an interesting notion for making a political statement calling for unity.

Between a Laugh and a Tear calls out the perspective of living as we age slightly past the immediate thrill of learning who we are. The perspective again is the feeling of life and a sense for what the dreams and connectedness of living has to offer. Rickie Lee Jones also sings on this song.

(A publicity shot of John Mellencamp from 1985, in support of the album Scarecrow).

With a perspective of impending disappointment established with Between a Laugh and a Tear, Rumbleseat brings home a message about the true feelings of getting on with life and finding a zest for life after the world has grown up and moved on. In aiming for that sense of feeling, are you ready to make the adventure happen?

You’ve Got to Stand for Somethin’ offers a sense of the song Rain on the Scarecrow for me, with the sense of self for Mellencamp that comes from being his father’s son and the grandson of his father’s father. Add a blue collar sense for standing up and pushing back, you have a measure of John Mellencamp.

R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. offers a sense of different styles of Rock & Roll from the 1960s that John Mellencamp enjoyed listening to as a kid. The song salutes Frankie Lyman, Bobby Fuller, Mitch Ryder, Jackie Wilson, The Shangra-Las, The Young Rascals, Martha Reeves and James Brown. R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A. charted second in the United States and sixty-seventh in the United Kingdom.

(The cover for the single R.O.C.K in the U.S.A., as performed by John Mellencamp on the album Scarecrow).

The Kind of Fella I Am closes out Scarecrow by declaring that the blue collar, small town sensibility John Mellencamp has sung of reflects who he is. In talking of being a jealous guy wanting focus on him, with who he is and what he wants, essentially gets to the man he wants to be in love and life. That the sensibility translates to his message in politics and lifestyle through the album Scarecrow speaks to who Mellencamp is overall.

Matt – Saturday, July 03, 2021