283:, "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."
36:
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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
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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
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called it "a rocking homage to the small town of the artist’s life and the small towns of
America," saying that it is "infectious, meaningful and especially topical."
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released a campaign advertisement pitched at small
American towns with declining economies, backed by Mellencamp singing "Small Town".
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773:"John Mellencamp cuts ad for Bloomberg: He'll 'take the fight directly to Trump'"
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747:"John Mellencamp Endorses Mike Bloomberg For President With New 'Small Town' Ad"
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Mellencamp wrote the song about his experiences growing up in a small town in
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263:"I wrote that song in the laundry room of my old house," Mellencamp told
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This article is about the John
Mellencamp song. For other uses, see
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711:. Vol. 98, no. 52. December 27, 1986. p. Y-21.
514:"Born in a 'Small Town': How John Mellencamp Wrote the Song"
502:
707:"1986 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles".
1094:Words & Music: John Mellencamp's Greatest Hits
627:"Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada"
476:
535:
1356:
809:
449:Michael Bloomberg 2020 presidential campaign
1059:Performs Trouble No More Live at Town Hall
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802:
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659:Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990
605:. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W.
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1400:Song recordings produced by Don Gehman
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1067:Plain Spoken: From the Chicago Theatre
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543:"John Mellencamp: My Life in 15 Songs"
1234:Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)
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770:
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722:Pompei, Elizabeth (5 February 2020).
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23:1985 single by John Cougar Mellencamp
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228:. The song reached #6 on the U.S.
87:Belmont Mall Studio, April 17, 1985
13:
1086:The Best That I Could Do 1978–1988
864:Nothin' Matters and What If It Did
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235:chart and #13 Adult Contemporary.
14:
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1332:Ghost Brothers of Darkland County
683:Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993
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222:and released on his eighth album
1395:Songs written by John Mellencamp
745:Mamo, Hernan (5 February 2020).
304:
771:Kurtz, Judy (5 February 2020).
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689:
685:. Record Research. p. 161.
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602:Australian Chart Book 1970–1992
483:Zollo, Paul (January 1, 2005).
71:"Small Town" (acoustic version)
1143:Ain't Even Done with the Night
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578:. November 2, 1985. p. 15
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1:
1390:Songs about the United States
1051:Life, Death, Live and Freedom
992:Life, Death, Love and Freedom
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1016:Sad Clowns & Hillbillies
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218:" is a 1985 song written by
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631:www.collectionscanada.gc.ca
485:"John Mellencamp Interview"
18:Small Town (disambiguation)
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1024:Strictly a One-Eyed Jack
840:Chestnut Street Incident
1375:Jackson County, Indiana
1102:On the Rural Route 7609
648:Official Charts Company
518:The Wall Street Journal
324:Australian Music Report
273:The Wall Street Journal
1192:R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
447:In February 2020, the
247:, having been born in
200:R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
169:John Cougar Mellencamp
48:John Cougar Mellencamp
1380:John Mellencamp songs
402:New Zealand (Top 50)
1385:Riva Records singles
1110:Other People's Stuff
904:The Lonesome Jubilee
428:US Top Pop Singles (
253:Bloomington, Indiana
1000:No Better Than This
726:. Indianapolis Star
489:American Songwriter
312:Charts (1985–1986)
266:American Songwriter
1324:Falling from Grace
1032:Orpheus Descending
944:Mr. Happy Go Lucky
920:Whenever We Wanted
549:. 23 December 2013
443:In popular culture
393:Adult Contemporary
171:singles chronology
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1351:
569:"Single Releases"
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1241:Just Another Day
1178:Lonely Ol' Night
1157:Jack & Diane
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633:. Archived from
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512:(22 June 2016).
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348:United Kingdom (
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251:, and living in
249:Seymour, Indiana
182:Lonely Ol' Night
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79:November 2, 1985
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1121:Notable singles
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976:Trouble No More
952:John Mellencamp
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825:John Mellencamp
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412:Year-end charts
379:Top Rock Tracks
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220:John Mellencamp
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158:John Mellencamp
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144:John Mellencamp
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54:from the album
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1248:Peaceful World
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1164:Crumblin' Down
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1129:I Need a Lover
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880:The Kid Inside
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679:Whitburn, Joel
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637:on 2012-10-20.
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1279:Other singles
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1269:My Sweet Love
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1150:Hurts So Good
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968:Cuttin' Heads
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872:American Fool
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832:Studio albums
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667:0-89820-089-X
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612:0-646-11917-6
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547:Rolling Stone
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419:Charts (1986)
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305:Weekly charts
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280:Rolling Stone
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138:Songwriter(s)
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1365:1985 singles
1339:Elaine Irwin
1330:
1322:
1313:George Green
1291:Travis Tritt
1287:What Say You
1213:Check It Out
1184:
1108:
1100:
1092:
1084:
1078:Compilations
1065:
1057:
1049:
1030:
1022:
1014:
1008:Plain Spoken
1006:
998:
990:
982:
974:
966:
958:
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942:
934:
928:Human Wheels
926:
918:
910:
902:
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886:
878:
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854:
846:
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780:. Retrieved
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766:
754:. Retrieved
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728:. Retrieved
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708:
702:
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673:
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643:
635:the original
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580:. Retrieved
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525:. Retrieved
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492:. Retrieved
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242:
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190:
130:Riva Records
55:
29:"Small Town"
1308:Discography
1262:Our Country
1206:Cherry Bomb
1171:Pink Houses
1043:Live albums
936:Dance Naked
856:John Cougar
848:A Biography
597:Kent, David
510:Myers, Marc
322:Australia (
152:Producer(s)
1370:1985 songs
1359:Categories
1227:Wild Night
1220:Pop Singer
1185:Small Town
782:6 February
756:6 February
730:6 February
582:2022-08-02
468:Small Town
455:References
216:Small Town
191:Small Town
162:Don Gehman
102:roots rock
1255:Walk Tall
1136:This Time
912:Big Daddy
896:Scarecrow
751:Billboard
709:Billboard
696:Charts.nz
522:News Corp
494:April 23,
430:Billboard
390:Billboard
376:Billboard
363:Billboard
317:position
287:Reception
259:Backstory
231:Billboard
225:Scarecrow
57:Scarecrow
1344:Meg Ryan
1318:Farm Aid
1289:" (with
777:The Hill
681:(1993).
599:(1993).
576:Cash Box
472:AllMusic
334:Canada (
293:Cash Box
84:Recorded
76:Released
1301:Related
553:20 June
527:20 June
365:Hot 100
350:Top 100
245:Indiana
239:Content
233:Hot 100
204:(1986)
195:(1985)
186:(1985)
1335:(2012)
1327:(1992)
1113:(2018)
1105:(2010)
1097:(2004)
1089:(1997)
1070:(2018)
1062:(2014)
1054:(2009)
1035:(2023)
1027:(2022)
1019:(2017)
1011:(2014)
1003:(2010)
995:(2008)
987:(2007)
979:(2003)
971:(2001)
963:(1999)
955:(1998)
947:(1996)
939:(1994)
931:(1993)
923:(1991)
915:(1989)
907:(1987)
899:(1985)
891:(1983)
888:Uh-huh
883:(1983)
875:(1982)
867:(1980)
859:(1979)
851:(1978)
843:(1976)
665:
609:
300:Charts
108:Length
66:B-side
44:Single
572:(PDF)
422:Rank
388:U.S.
374:U.S.
360:U.S.
125:Label
93:Genre
784:2020
758:2020
732:2020
663:ISBN
607:ISBN
555:2018
529:2018
496:2018
315:Peak
470:at
436:72
405:40
397:13
355:53
343:13
337:RPM
329:80
46:by
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113:3
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
