John Mellencamp – Paper in Fire

After Mellencamp hit with the song Hurt So Good and Jack and Diane…the rest of the 80s he took advantage of the opportunity that he got. The radio constantly played him and to be truthful…I took him for granted. Next album…more hits…it just seemed natural. He is one of the very few artists I liked in the 80s that was constantly in the top 20. This song grew on me as time went by.

John Mellencamp was releasing quality songs in the eighties that were timeless. This song was on his album  The Lonesome Jubilee which was released in 1987. When he wrote this he was tremendously popular but he had some downs in his personal life. His uncle and grandfather had recently died, and many of his friends were getting divorced. He made the statement “It’s horrible to think you’ve gotta be a miserable son of a bitch to write a good song, but I guess that’s kind of the way it works sometimes.”

32 years ago today: John Cougar Mellencamp plays Vancouver on the Lonesome Jubilee Tour | Georgia Straight Vancouver's News & Entertainment Weekly

The song peaked at #9 on the Billboard 100, #3 in Canada, #16 in New Zealand, and #86 in the UK….the heartland rockers didn’t translate as well in the UK at the time. That includes Petty, Mellencamp, and even Springsteen.

The video was shot outside of a house on a dirt road in Savannah, Georgia. Mellencamp wanted to show poverty in America to go along with the social commentary in the song, and also explore racism – the extras in the video are black. His next video – for “Hard Times For An Honest Man” – was also shot in Savannah.

Paper In Fire

She had a dream
And boy it was a good one
So she chased after her dream
With much desire
But when she get too close
To her expectations
Well the dream burned up
Like paper in fire

Paper in fire
Stinking up the ashtrays
Paper in fire
Smoking up the alleyways
Who’s to say the way
A man should spend his days
Do you let them smolder
Like paper in fire

He wanted love
With no involvement
So he chased the wind
That’s all his silly life required
And the days of vanity
Went on forever
And he saw his days burn up
Like paper in fire

Paper in fire
Stinking up the ashtrays
Paper in fire
Smoking up the alleyways
Who’s to say the way
A man should spend his days
Do you let them smolder
Like paper in fire

There’s a good life
Right across the green fields
And each generation
Stares at it from afar
But we keep no check
On our appetites
So the green fields turn to brown
Like paper in fire

Paper in fire
Stinking up the ashtrays
Paper in fire
Smoking up the alleyways
Who’s to say the way
A man should spend his days
Do you let them smolder
Like paper in fire

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

29 thoughts on “John Mellencamp – Paper in Fire”

  3. that would be one of the ‘Dave Picks’ for ’87 if there was such a thing! Great song from a great album, he was really at the top of his game back in that time period. By then he was being able to make the music he wanted pretty much without having to accommodate the whims of the record company, who probably would have preferred if he still called himself ‘John Cougar’.

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    1. He could do no wrong in the mid 80s…one fo the few artists I looked forward to at that time. I knew he would release something I would like. It makes sense because now his music gets played along side the ones that influenced him.

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  4. Love this. I was quite into John ‘Cougar’ Mellencamp in the early 80s. I’d say I liked him more than Springsteen. I think this one though is from towards the end of the time I listened out for him. No idea what he did later on. 🙂
    (Springsteen edges him now, as well. 😉 )

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    1. Scarecrow is my number 1 album by him…None of these guys and Tom Petty seemed to be as big over there for some reason…at least in charts.

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  5. A representative of down-to-earth American rock values: honesty and originality. I’m only surprised that John Cougar Mellencamp isn’t standing next to Springsteen, which only speaks for him.

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  6. Great song pick Max. We sure loved our JM up here in Canada. Glad I got a chance to see him. He got quite the vocabulary! Certainly one of the best singer songwriters and as you noted thoughtful and deliberate with his songs and videos.

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    1. Yes he does! I saw him once in the early nineties…I’m glad I did. The only concert I went with my sister with…so far anyway.
      I remember when my parents dropped her off to see The Osmonds and then David Cassidy.

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      2. They chased Cassidy around the auditorium… all I remember (I was 4) is a bunch of girls running and screaming like hell.

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      5. Yea she was with the rebels! Obbverse…I’ve looked up the dates since then…and it one of those concerts she went to was right after The Stones with Stevie Wonder opening up…I never let her forget that…although she probably is happy with what she saw.

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  7. I think I followed him through the 80’s up in to the early 90’s and then pretty much stopped listening at that point. No reason, just didn’t explore him much after that. Still, that 80’s stretch is pretty impressive. I think the Rain on the Scarecrow album is my favorite.

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    1. I agree with you about Scarecrow…that was his best album to me.
      I’m like that with a lot of artists John…Bruce also…after the 90s…I just stopped on many.

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      1. I am around. I got rolled back to Premium and, OH BOY, the retro move threw some of my settings to what they were a year ago. I have been adjusting menus. I had shelled out $455 (20% discount for two years on Biz Plan) and got my money refunded. I got my Classic Editor, too. After a year, I “might” go back to Biz…IDK. My GB storage is already up to 58%. I may have to pull down some uploaded videos and transfer them to YT. Linking is better than eating up storage.

        I also bought a new laptop last week and… a new Samsung phone, today. This poor 10 year old HP Beats Audio (Win7) could fail at any time so, I got a new HP (Win11) from Costco for a really, really good price. My how things have changed. My Samsung phone is FULL, even with putting damn near everything on the SD card…so, new phone.

        Ken is home and I stay busy, running him to appointments. OMG, the medical industrial complex. He has another surgery coming up in February. Basel cell carcinoma. *whew*

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      2. Yea rarely do I put my own videos on there. I had to with the TZ and just a few others. I have 3 GB worth of storage but I’m not near full..because most are pics.

        Is that what was on his chest?

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  12. One of my all-time favorite John Mellencamp songs from what also is my favorite album. “The Lonesome Jubilee” has that nice balance between roots and his traditional heartland rock. It was the album that started his gradual transition into roots.

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