What it was like Growing Up in the Eighties (1980s)
  • Tue. Mar 19th, 2024

John Cougar – 1980s Music Artist

John Cougar’s best 1980s songs and their song lyrics.

Born John Mellencamp in Indianna in 1951, he was given the name John Cougar by an early manager, Tony DeFries (of David Bowie fame). DeFries tried to turn the young singer into a tough-guy in black leather, the Marlon Brando of the glam rock scene, before Mellencamp tired of the scene and left for home. Keeping the Cougar monicre, Mellencamp traded in the leather for denim, and went for a simpler, more Springsteenesque style. After a few small successes, he landed himself on all the charts in 1982 with his American Fool album. He scored two big hits in the States with “Hurts So Good” and “Jack and Diane,” his first (and to date only) number 1. On his next album he was John Cougar Mellencamp, and later he would drop Cougar completely, but the name changes didn’t seem to hurt sales any as he put together a string of hits in the 80s, including “Small Town,” “Paper in Fire” and “ROCK in the USA.” Apart from recording, Mellencamp has dabbled in the visual arts and tried his hand at acting. He was also a key figure in the Farm Aid benefit concerts supporting American farmers

Hurts so good

When I was a young boy,
Said put away those young boy ways
Now that I'm gettin' older, so much older
I love all those young boy days.
With a girl like you,
With a girl like you,
Lord knows there are things we can do, baby,
Just me and you.
Come on and make it
CHORUS:
Hurt so good.
Come on baby, make it hurt so good.
Sometimes love don't feel like it should.
You make it hurt so good.
Don't have to be so exiting.
Just tryin' to give myself a little bit of fun, yeah.
You always look so invitin'
You ain't as green as  you  are  young
Hey baby, its you.
Come on, girl, now, its you.
Sink your teeth right through my bones, baby.
Let's see what we can do.
Come on and make it
Chorus
I ain't talkin' no big deals
I ain't made no plans myself.
I ain't talkin' no high heels
Maybe we could walk around all day long,
walk around all day long.
Chorus twice
Hey, hey


R.O.C.K. In The U.S.A.


They come from the cities
And they come from the smaller towns
Beat up cars with guitars and drummers
Goin crack boom bam
Chorus
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.
R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A., Yeah, Yeah!
Rockin' in the U.S.A.
Said goodbye to their families
Said goodbye to their friends
With pipe dreams in their heads
And very little money in their hands
Some are black and some are white
Ain't to proud to sleep on the floor tonight
With the blind faith of Jesus you know that they just might, be
Rockin' in the U.S.A.
Hey!
Voices from nowhere
And voices from the larger towns
Filled our head full of dreams
Turned the world upside down
There was Frankie Lyman-Bobby Fuller-Mitch Ryder
(They were Rockin')
Jackie Wilson-Shangra-las-Young Rascals
(They were Rockin')
Spotlight on Martha Reeves
Let's don't forget James Brown
Rockin' in the U.S.A.
Rockin' in the U.S.A.
Hey!
Chorus


Jack and Diane

Little ditty about Jack and Diane
2 American kids growin up in the heartland
Jacky's gonna be a football star
Diane debutante backseat of Jacky's car

Suckin' on chili dogs outside the tastee freeze
Diane's sittin' on Jacky's lap
He's got his hand between her knees
Jacky say "Hey Diane lets run off
Behind a shady tree"
Dribble off those Bobby Brooks
Let me do what I please.
And Jacky say

Oh yeah life goes on
Long after the thrill of livin is gone
Oh yeay say life goes on
Long after the thrill of livin is gone, they walk on

Jacky sits back reflects his thoughts for the moment
Scratches his head and does his best james dean.
Well you know Diane, we oughtta run of the city
Diane says "Baby, you aint missin' no-thing"
Jacky say a

Oh yeah life goes on
Long after the thrill of livin is gone
Oh yeay say life goes on
Long after the thrill of livin is gone, they walk on

Gonna let it rock
Let it roll
Let the Bible Belt come down
And Save My soul
Hold on to 16 as long as you can
Changes come around real soon
Make us women and men

Little ditty about Jack and Diane
Two american kids doing the best they can



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 got too close
To her expectations
Well the dream burned up
Like paper in fire

CHORUS
Paper in fire
Stinkin' up the ashtray
Paper in fire
Smokin' 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

CHORUS

There is a good life
Right across this green field
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

CHORUS

More at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mellencamp