I reckon every songwriter has a list of songs they wish they’d written, and I have to imagine that “Pink Houses” is on Bruce’s.
John Mellencamp’s 1983 single (it peaked at #8 in early 1984) has a lot in common with Bruce’s material at the time. For one thing, it was famously misinterpreted. With an anthemic backing track and a rousing chorus, it’s easy to overlook the song’s critical lyrics, which scold America for not being accountable to its ideals.
In fact, while President Reagan was latching onto Bruce’s “Born in the U.S.A.” during his 1984 reelection campaign, he was also playing “Pink Houses” at his campaign stops. “Pink Houses” has been co-opted by conservative politicians and causes ever since its release; its very liberal author had to ask candidates Reagan, Bush, and McCain to kindly cease and desist.
Today, “Pink Houses” is considered one of Mellencamp’s greatest songs, and Rolling Stone has enshrined it as #447 on its Greatest Songs of All-Time list.
And yet, even though Bruce and John have shared a stage together a few times over the years, they never teamed up on the most likely candidate from John’s catalog.
Not until 2019, at least. At the 1980s-themed benefit concert for The Rainforest Foundation, Bruce and John finally found their moment. During Mellencamp’s set that evening, he invited a special guest to join him on stage–and what followed was the first and only team-up to date between Bruce and John on one of their own songs.
John returned the favor shortly after, which left them tied at one each. With luck, we’ll get to see Bruce and John explore each other’s catalogs more deeply in the future.
Pink Houses
First performed: December 9, 2019 (New York City, NY)
Last performed: December 9, 2019 (New York City, NY)
Meeting across the river, indeed! Two “old” heavyweight warhorses having their day. Mutual admiration society. (Loved that John brushes The Boss’s forehead in deep show of affection–among many–at song’s conclusion in the concert footage.) Each perfectly restrained AND wholly into it. Great band as well. And, Man!, that “Pink Houses” video with killer riff, train-tracks, sun-lit flag, Kenny Aranoff, “JC” Cheerleading sweater, etc.–Ain’t that America! Good call on “the song’s critical lyrics, which scold America for not being accountable to its ideals.” This was fun.
What’s ironic about this is that when this song first came out, John did a promotion with MTV, and a literal pink house was auctioned off. The house still stands, and is a two story colonial in a subdivision not far from where I live here in Louisville, Kentucky. My dad and I actually drove by it the other night, and we commented on it, because we remember the entire event. The house isn’t pink anymore and I’m sure has been sold in the 30 plus years, but it remained a pale Cadillac pink for years. I remember as a kid us driving through the subdivision to look at it. My dad grew up in the area, just down the street from where it is.
I was a little kid in the mid-80’s and my parents in their late 20’s when the promo was going on, but to this day he and I still remember it. From the promos on tv, to remembering the house being built and painted pink for the promotion. I don’t know if the house was built specifically for the promo (it’s in an established neighborhood in Prospect; which is a suburb area in the eastern part of the county), or if it was just a new build and was purchased for this auction to raise money. (I’m guessing for FarmAid.) But we remember it being so weird a house was being auctioned off related to this song, and it was in our town. But John is from Seymour, Indiana; which isn’t far from Louisville. Back before he hit it big, John and his first wife actually lived in Louisville for several years while he worked for the local power company, LG&E. He wrote a song about it, and how incredibly hard it was for them during that time. The song is called Empty Hands, from his Lonesome Jubilee album.
That’s a cool story, Courtney. Thanks for sharing it, and the context.
The actual pink house from the video is in Austin, Indiana.