‘Pink Houses’ is a song written and performed by John Mellencamp (while he was using the name John Cougar Mellencamp). It was released on 23 October 1983 form his Uh-Huh album. 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."
Sometimes misinterpreted as patriotic with their anthemic sounds and American imagery, John Mellencamp’s songs are more often critiques of American life rather than celebrations of it. ‘Pink Houses,’ especially, holds a mirror to the distorted vision of the “American Dream.” In an interview, Mellencamp said, “This one has been misconstrued over the years because of the chorus—it sounds very rah-rah. But it’s really an anti-American song,” He continued, “The American dream had pretty much proven itself as not working anymore. It was another way for me to sneak something in.”
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.
Mellencamp had intended Pink Houses to be a lesson on race, class and survival in America. The repeating line in the chorus of "Ain’t that America" was meant to be sarcastic and cynical. Ironically, the song came to be used in political advertisements and campaign rallies.
Label – RivaSongwriter – John Mellencamp
Producers – John Mellencamp, Don Gehman
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1]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 that he's got it so good
[Verse 2]
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."
[Chorus]
Oh, 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
Oh, yeah, for you and me
Ey!
[Verse 3]
Well, there's a young man in a t-shirt
Listen' to a rock 'n' roll station
He's got greasy hair, greasy smile
He says, "Lord, this must be my destination"
[Verse 4]
Cause they told me when I was younger
Sayin', "boy, you're gonna be president"
But just like everything else, those old crazy dreams
Just kinda came and went
[Chorus]
Oh, 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
Oh, baby, for you and me
[Verse 5]
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
[Verse 6]
And there's winners, and there's losers
But they ain't no big deal
Cause the simple man baby pays the thrills
The bills, the pills that kill
[Chorus]
Oh, 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
[Chorus]
Ain't that America
For you and me?
Ain't that America
Hey, well somethin' to see baby?
Ain't that America
Oh, well the home of the free
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Little pink houses, baby, for you and me
[Outro]
Ooh yeah
Ooh yeah