Pink Houses Lyrics
Living in a black neighborhood
He's got an interstate running' through his front yard
You know, he thinks, he's got it so good
And there's a woman in the kitchen cleaning' up evening slop
And he looks at her and says:
"Hey darling, I can remember when you could stop a clock"
Ain't that America, we're something to see baby
Ain't that America, home of the free, yeah
Little pink houses for you and me, oh for you and me
Listenin' to a rockin' rollin' station
He's got a greasy hair, greasy smile
He says: "Lord, this must be my destination"
'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
Ain't that America, we're something 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
What do they know, know, know
Go to work in some high rise
And vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico
Ooo yeah
But they ain't no big deal
'Cause the simple man baby pays the thrills,
The bills and the pills that kill
Ain't that America, we're something to see baby
Ain't that America, home of the free, yeah
Little pink houses for you and me, ooo, ooo yeah
Ain't that America, hey we're something to see baby
Ain't that America, oh the home of the free,
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Little pink houses babe for you and me, ooo yeah ooo yeah

Ronald Reagan asked to use this as a campaign song in '84...Mellencamp said no one in hell.
I think Reagan should have read the verses.
You're absolutely right.
You're absolutely right.
This is why I don't like Mellencamp. Most people who listen to his music don't know what the songs are saying. That wipes out any redeeming social value they might have. He uses poor people as props.
This is why I don't like Mellencamp. Most people who listen to his music don't know what the songs are saying. That wipes out any redeeming social value they might have. He uses poor people as props.
@UnpopularPoet He expressed reluctance to object to Bush's use of "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." at a campaign event, telling Rolling Stone that despite his opposition to Bush's political positions, "I don't see any sense in being silly about it. It's entertainment. It's a song.
@UnpopularPoet He expressed reluctance to object to Bush's use of "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." at a campaign event, telling Rolling Stone that despite his opposition to Bush's political positions, "I don't see any sense in being silly about it. It's entertainment. It's a song.
@UnpopularPoet Ooh... Steve. I like what you said about using poor people as props. I think there was a lot of that going on in the mid-80s, both in the media and in politics. Everybody talked about helping farmers and went around posing on farms and in small towns, but nobody really did anything concrete to change things.
@UnpopularPoet Ooh... Steve. I like what you said about using poor people as props. I think there was a lot of that going on in the mid-80s, both in the media and in politics. Everybody talked about helping farmers and went around posing on farms and in small towns, but nobody really did anything concrete to change things.

I think this song is about how there comes a time in your life when you realize you're too old to be a dreamer. Where you realize that you can no longer be anything you want to be.

I think it's asking us to reevaluate the American Dream. Maybe that it isn't what we thought it was.

This song should be recognized as one of the best songs in rock & roll. Wonderfully written and performed, and one of my all-time favorites. I agree with all the above comments, but can anyone comment of the significance of "pink houses"?

The term "Pink Houses", refers to just that, pink houses. I lived in one for the first year of my life from 1954 to 55'. They were low-cost houses (which my parents refered to as the "projects") that were bulit in the late 40s' and early 50s' for all the new growing families most of which were military returning home from the war. (BABY BOOMERS) I would go back there with my parents to visit there old friends till I was 10-12 years old, and YES, ALL the houses were painted pink. Not a bright "shocking pink" but pink nontheless. I'm not sure why pink was the color of choice in the midwest but there you have it.
@twise I have seen several neighborhoods with pink houses as well. they were not all pink though. some were green and not all of the neighborhoods were projects. The colors were real close to the same as the little square pink and green party mints. I am from southern Indiana not far where I-65 runs through between Seymour and Louisville Kentucky. I have not only seen them in Indiana but around Kentucky as well.
@twise I have seen several neighborhoods with pink houses as well. they were not all pink though. some were green and not all of the neighborhoods were projects. The colors were real close to the same as the little square pink and green party mints. I am from southern Indiana not far where I-65 runs through between Seymour and Louisville Kentucky. I have not only seen them in Indiana but around Kentucky as well.

i live in indianapolis, a hoosier just like john...and you drive down interstate 65 to downtown indy, and when you drive down I65 to downtown Indianapolis, you can see where the neighborhood roads just cut from where I65 was built, always reminds me of this song and the first couple of lines.

Great song, but the line about his wife being able to stop a clock always seemed a bit of a back-handed compliment and funny to me - like you had a face that could stop a clock?
@daherbie I believe he is saying that the man remembers when she was younger she was beautiful and or sexy enough that when guys noticed and stared at her it felt like time stood still. Now that they are older even though he still loves her and is still beautiful in his eyes her looks are not the same.
@daherbie I believe he is saying that the man remembers when she was younger she was beautiful and or sexy enough that when guys noticed and stared at her it felt like time stood still. Now that they are older even though he still loves her and is still beautiful in his eyes her looks are not the same.
Kissfan,
Kissfan,
You got it. It's like, she was so gorgeous, even the clock had to stop and look.
You got it. It's like, she was so gorgeous, even the clock had to stop and look.

And there's winners and there's losers But they ain't no big deal
i dont like this line. everyone is equal.
i do love the message of this song tho. america aint so great. especially when it cums to economic inequality. it is my opinion that people cannot be equal without economic, social, and political equality. i guess u can call me a communist.
as far as "And there's winners and there's losers But they ain't no big deal" i think that mellencamp is referring to the fact that rich people have it made, complete fuckups have dug their own graves. and it is the workers who keep america going but also have to slave every day
To be fair, and this from watching the video, I think he is referring to anyone that lets drugs (or whatever) interfere with their life. May not be the "best" life, but even a working man/woman can derail their lives with destructive behavior. In that way it is even. Just the drugs of choice are not.
To be fair, and this from watching the video, I think he is referring to anyone that lets drugs (or whatever) interfere with their life. May not be the "best" life, but even a working man/woman can derail their lives with destructive behavior. In that way it is even. Just the drugs of choice are not.
@ThinkSolutions I don't think he's referring to people being unequal but that in life no matter how hard you try sometimes things don't workout. Also I think he is referring to those that even though they have the ability happen to be losers because they don't try.
@ThinkSolutions I don't think he's referring to people being unequal but that in life no matter how hard you try sometimes things don't workout. Also I think he is referring to those that even though they have the ability happen to be losers because they don't try.

Pink Houses are also the name of projects in Brooklyn. I'm not sure if that was what Mr. Mellencamp was referring to, but it could fit the theme of the song as well. I like when songs get the meaning across, but leave some room for interpretation.

As we celebrate Independence Day, I think America has to be reexamined and reevaluated. The ideas that our founders espoused are now old-fashioned. What was one was the truth-it's no anything but! America is full of hypocrisy and lies. Even with Obama in Office, America will Never Be a more perfect union! John Mellencamp understands this fact better than anyone in Rock. To Paraphrase his Midwest Guitar Friend Madonna, Nobody's Perfect. In angry heartland classic rocker Pink Houses, Mellencamp angrily writes about inequality-how the American people don't have it so good after all. The Indiana Hoosier Kitty Cat is angry and enraged!-Meow!-Mellencamp rages "Ain't That America for You and Me!"-as if things will never change! What's most shocking is the hopelessness on the sad rocker. The truth hurts. As his Meowing Cat voice gets angrier and sadder, Johnny Rebel just cries in Sad and Enraged Indiana Tears. The Pink House then is a stoic symbol that hard times are gonna be with us always-but we Americans just have to keep going to make America better. There is still hope. Mellencamp knows it. I know it. We all know it! Ain't that America for you and me! Happy Fourth!