‘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."
Cash Box 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." The media portrayed Mellencamp as the champion of small-town America when the song was released. He downplayed his title as "voice of the heartland," saying he was simply writing about his life, not trying to make a statement. But to those living in small towns across America, his music was inspiriting. David Masciotra, author of Mellencamp: American Troubadour, grew up in the small town of Lansing, Illinois, and was one of many who felt validated by this song. "'Small Town' is an immensely important song in the recent history of American music because of exactly what he said: It celebrates the life that one can live in a town that is off the cultural map,"
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.
Label – Riva Records
Songwriter – John Mellencamp
Producers - John Mellencamp, Don Gehman
SONG LYRICS
Well, I was born in a small townAnd I live in a small town
Probably die in a small town
Oh, those small communities
All my friends are so small town
My parents live in the same small town
My job is so small town
Provides little opportunity
Educated in a small town
Taught to fear Jesus in a small town
Used to daydream in that small town
Another boring romantic, that's me
But I've seen it all in a small town
Had myself a ball in a small town
Married an L.A. doll and brought her to this small town
Now she's small town just like me
No, I cannot forget from where it is that I come from
I cannot forget the people who love me
Yeah, I can be myself here in this small town
And people let me be just what I want to be
Got nothing against a big town
Still hayseed enough to say, "look who's in the big town"
But my bed is in a small town
Oh, and that's good enough for me
Well, I was born in a small town
And I can breathe in a small town
Gonna die in this small town
Oh that's probably where they'll bury me