About The Song
“Pink Houses” is a song written and performed by John Cougar Mellencamp. It was released on 23 October 1983 as the second single from his album Uh-Huh. It reached No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1984 and No. 15 in Canada. “Pink Houses” was ranked No. 447 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Recorded in a farmhouse in Brownstown, Indiana, the song was inspired when Mellencamp was driving along an overpass on the way home to Bloomington, Indiana, from the Indianapolis airport. There was an old black man sitting outside his little pink shotgun house with his cat in his arms, completely unperturbed by the traffic speeding along the highway in his front yard. “He waved, and I waved back,” Mellencamp said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “That’s how ‘Pink Houses’ started.”
Mellencamp has stated many times since the release of “Pink Houses” that he is unhappy with the song’s final verse. At an October 2014 press conference, he stated: “A long time ago, I wrote a song called ‘Pink Houses.’ Now when I hear that song, all I can think is: ‘Why didn’t I do a better job on the last verse?’ If I had written it today, the last verse would’ve had more meaning.”
Video
Lyrics
There’s a black man with a black cat
Livin’ in a black neighborhood
He’s got an interstate runnin’ through his front yard
You know he thinks he’s got it so good
And there’s a woman in the kitchen
Cleanin’ up the evenin’ slop
And he looks at her and says, “Hey darlin’
I can remember when you could stop a clock”
Ah, but ain’t that America for you and me?
Ain’t that America? Somethin’ to see, baby
Ain’t that America? Home of the free, yeah
Little pink houses for you and me
Ooh yeah, for you and me
Well, there’s a young man in a t-shirt
Listenin’ to a rockin’ rollin’ station
He’s got greasy hair, greasy smile
He says, “Lord, this must be my destination”
‘Cause they told me when I was younger
Said, “Boy, you’re gonna be president”
But just like everything else those old crazy dreams
Just kinda came and went
Ah, but ain’t that America for you and me?
Ain’t that America? Somethin’ to see, baby
Ain’t that America? Home of the free, yeah
Little pink houses for you and me
Ah, yeah, baby, for you and me
Well, there’s people and more people
What do they know, know, know?
Go to work in some high rise
And vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico, ooh, yeah
And there’s winners and there’s losers
But they ain’t no big deal
‘Cause the simple man, baby, pays for the thrills, the bills
The pills that kill
Ah, but ain’t that America for you and me?
Ain’t that America? Somethin’ to see, baby
Ain’t that America? Home of the free, yeah
Little pink houses for you and me, ooh
Ooh yeah
Ain’t that America for you and me?
Ain’t that America? Hey, somethin’ to see, baby
Ain’t that America? Oh, the home of the free
Ooh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Little pink houses, baby, for you and me
Ooh yeah
Ooh yeah