In 1982, John Mellencamp (then performing as John Cougar, from his middle name) wrote a song after being inspired by the Tennessee Williams film, Sweet Bird of Youth. The shape of this song would eventually become the smash hit, "Jack and Diane." Although we all know the final product, Mellencamp has described writing the song and his inital feels about the tune as both "a dumb little song" and "a terrible record to make." Allegedly it took him 30 years to love it.
The iconic song was also notoriously difficult for Mellencamp and his band to record. He said the notable clapping on the song was put there initially just to help everyone stay in time and manage the time changes. He also added about the song, "When I play it on guitar by myself, it sounds great; but I could never get the band to play along with me. That's why the arrangement's so weird. Stopping and starting, it's not very musical."
ln addition to the numerous recording challenges, Mellencamp's record label even took issue with the original song's premise, further complicating its release. Originally, Mellencamp had written the song about an interracial relationship, which the label was fully in opposition of at the time. Mellencamp told The Huffington Post:
"Originally the line was Jack was not a football star, Jack was an African-American. In 1982, when I turned the song in to the record company, they went, ‘Whoa, can’t you make him something other than that?’
"I said, ‘Well, I don’t really want to. I mean, that’s the whole point. This is really a song about race relationships and a white girl being with a black guy, and that’s what the song’s about.’
“And they said, ‘No, no, no, no.’ … So, anyway, through much debate and me being young, I said, ‘Okay, we’ll make him a football star.'"
Eventually, producer and guitarist Mick Ronson worked with Mellencamp on the recording and got the track to a place where he was happy with it. Mellencamp has even gone so far as to say that Ronson's involvement saved it from being left in the "junk heap."
The song spent four weeks at number one on the Billboard chart upon release in October of 1982. The publication said of the single, "The hooks here are in the storyline, which traces a blue collar romance 'in the heartland' where Cougar hails from, capped by taut guitar and percussion."
"Jack & Diane" has gone on to be one of Mellencamp's most recognizable songs. When compiling a list of the "Songs of the Century," the Recording Industry Association of American (RIAA) listed "Jack & Diane" as one of the best for the 20th Century.
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Related: John Mellencamp Makes Bold Statement About His Sole Grammy Win
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