06/26/2026
John Mellencamp – Small Town 😎
‘Small Town’ is a 1985 song written by John Mellencamp and released on his eighth album Scarecrow. The song reached #6 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and #13 Adult Contemporary. Mellencamp wrote the song about his experiences growing up in a small town in Indiana, having been born in Seymour, Indiana, and living in Bloomington, Indiana, which, at the time of the release of the song, was larger. The music video has references to both towns.
"I wrote that song in the laundry room of my old house," Mellencamp told American Songwriter magazine in 2004. "We had company, and I had to go write the song. And the people upstairs could hear me writing and they were all laughing when I came up. They said, 'You've got to be kidding.' What else can you say about it?" Mellencamp later told The Wall Street Journal that he had written the lyrics using an electronic typewriter that beeped whenever he misspelled a word, which had amused the people listening upstairs; however, they were silenced when he played the song to them. In 2013, Mellencamp told Rolling Stone, "I wanted to write a song that said, 'You don't have to live in New York or Los Angeles to live a full life or enjoy your life.' I was never one of those guys that grew up and thought, 'I need to get out of here.' It never dawned on me. I just valued having a family and staying close to friends."
Many songs have been written about looking to escape the confines of small-town America, but Mellencamp celebrates it in his music and life, most vividly on this song. Mellencamp tried city-living, by moving to New York City after he got a record deal, but it didn't take: he felt overwhelmed and creatively bereft. He moved back to Indiana and stayed there the rest of his life, setting up his own recording studio, Belmont Mall, near the tiny town of Nashville, Indiana, so he wouldn't have to go into a city to work.
😎 *** You can see the full article with the song’s history, lyrics and video here https://rock-reflections.com/blogs/videos-lyrics-facts/john-mellencamp-small-town *** 😎
