Jack and Diane - John Cougar Mellencamp | Andy & Alex FIRST TIME REACTION! 

"Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone". At this point I know EXACTLY what he means.⚛😀❤

I Need a Lover is an absolute must from him

I was 16 years old when this song was released. I'm 58 now. My advice to teenagers and people in their 20's: Hold on to 16 or even 26 as long as you can. It goes by really fast, and you don't realize it until one day you are 49 years old and just about to turn 50. But there is some good news, in my opinion, I never really had a thrill of living until I was about 47 or 48 years old. At that point, my kids had graduated from high school. I was well established in my career. Money issues which were always an issue when younger finally weren't too much of a concern anymore. I no longer gave a bleep what people thought about the clothes I wear, the music I listen to, or even if they liked me. At around 47 years old, in my case, life started to get really good. I'm approaching 60 now, and the thrill of living continues to be amazing.

Rain On The Scarecrow is a low key banger

Crumblin Down and The Authority Song should be next. They are straight up bangers.

"Paper in Fire" ,"Cherry Bomb" , "Hurts So Good" , "R O C K in the USA", so many. Maybe a John Mellencamp week!

Tastee Freez was an ice cream joint. This line actually causes a lot of confusion because most people think of a chili dog as a hot dog with chili on it. In this context, a Chilly Dog or Dawg is a frozen drink. Like a Slushie or Icee

JCM's album "Scarecrow" might be my favorite 80's album. There's not a weak cut on the album.

“Hold on to Sixteen as long as you can. Changes come around real soon make us women and men.” Isn’t that the truth…

This song really kicks you in the gut when you're eligible for Social Security now but can remember when this was a brand new hit.

"I Need A Lover " and "Ain't Even Done With The Night" were his first hits. Both are worth checking out.

"I Need A Lover" has one of the best intros of any song ever!

Its funny how songs like this one, ‘Changes’ by David Bowie, ‘Dream On’ by Aerosmith, etc. hit different when you get older 🙂

JCM doesn't get the recognition that he deserves. A true piece of mid-lands "Americana" with voice, vocals, and instrumentation. Always with some tasty acoustic guitar! A great song writer and one of the founding members of "Farm-Aid' concerts and organization.

John born in Indiana left for fame but eventually came back to settled in the heartland again ~

When I was 19 in 1983, my dad died. I remember thinking about the line "Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone."

Jack & DIane is an anthem of the age.

Hurts So Good and Small Town should be next.

They don't make them like John Mellencamp anymore. This man has always been awesome. For me, all of his songs are outstanding.

Paper in Fire is a banger.

Saw Mellencamp with John Fogerty years ago. Hell of a show. JCM had Fogerty come up onstage with him and Mellencamp said ‘when I grow up I hope I write a song as good as this’…and they ripped into “Green River”.

Life goes on long after the thrill of living is gone. Means more with every passing year

I was a truck driver in the 80s and 90s and one morning early like 3:00 in the morning I was eating breakfast at the counter when this guy come in and sit next to me. I had no idea who he was but he offered to buy my breakfast and did and it was John Cougar Mellencamp. It turns out his bus busted a fuel line so he was sitting out the morning in the truck stop. We small talked for a while and I think it was like 6:00 in the morning the sun was just coming up when we parted company and that's when he told me his name, otherwise I would never know it was him. Only listening to people on the radio you have no idea what they look like.

You should do ..Rain On the Scarecrow

Lonely ol' Night. "She calls me baby, she calls everybody baby" Love that line.

Glad you guys finally made your way to Mellencamp! Gotta do “I Need A Lover”next!! It rips so hard. “Rain On the Scarecrow” as well.

Studio version of I Need a Lover has one of the best openings/intros of classic rock imo.

Bobbie Brooks slacks were a name brand in the 70's.

He's got a slew of great songs, but my favorite is "Ain't Even Done with the Night." Brings me right back to working at Peaches Records in the early '80s

Fun fact. Where those dirty electric chords hit, Mellencamp told his lead guitarist to follow them on acoustic guitar with that "dun, dun-dun-dun-dun-dun" riff. Dude refused to play anything that simple, so John played the riff himself. JACK & DIANE became a huge hit, and the dude had to play it every show!

I was that age when it was new, it's an anthem.

Hurts So Good is an absolute 80s banger! This man had hit after hit!

Mellencamp had one of the greatest backing bands ever, especially Kenny Arnof on drums --- that mini-solo in middle KILLS!!!

The production still sounds good...42 years later.

"Check It Out" is my favourite John Mellencamp song. Kinda of a sequel to this one, offering a glimpse of after the thrill of living is gone.

Tastee-Freeze--my first job in 1975. I first heard this song after being on the road for too long; I was in Australia and tired of talking about where I was from, where I had been, where I was going next. The lyrics became "life goes on, long after the thrill of travelling is gone".

For many of us who were that age at the time the song came out, we have a strong connection to it. He was a legitimate hit-making machine for a long time and a handful of his albums are great from start to finish.

Tastee Freeze was a hamburger/shakes restaurant chain similar to Dari Queen and was popular in the Midwest. John is from Indiana and many of his songs relate to the Midwest small town and farm life.

Gen Z trying to talk about how this song is going from teens to early 20's in life cycle just cracked me up. You guys don't understand the true profound message of this song and how it mirrors life for almost all people, but in about 20 years you will. Bank on it.

Mellencamp is to the Midwest what Springsteen is to the New York / New Jersey area. They both paint realistic images in their songs of life in their surroundings. I love all of JCM's work from the late 70s through the 80s. 🎸

" We Ain't Even Done With The Night " by J C M. another Rock Classic highly recommend this song

"Check It Out" was a favorite for me.

This song will always remind me of my good friend Jack O’Brien. He died tragically in 97 while working as an Ironworker connecting a building. We always sung this to each other jokingly when it played on the radio. ✌️♥️🎶

"I wonder what Tastee-Freez is" Oh, wow 🙂

Tastee-Freez sells soft-serve ice cream. Its founder invented the soft-serve ice cream machine. "Expansion of the brand was rapid in the 1950s; in 1952, there were 315 locations, more than 1600 by mid-1956, and by 1957 there were nearly 1,800 locations." Today, there are four.

I have tons of respect for this artist!! The record company wanted to 'sell him' a certain way, including trying to change his name from Mellencamp to Cougar. He fought against it the whole time, with them reaching the compromise of making the 'Cougar' his middle name, then just the initial. He has some Really Good Songs to hear, including Hurt So Good, The Authority Song, Rain on the Scarecrow, and Cherry Bomb!!

No one has mentioned 'Play Guitar' from the Uh Huh album, So good!

Reminds me of early MTV.

This was chosen as one of the most popular songs by my senior class in high school. Though not a small town, we lived only an hour or so from the small town that John Mellencamp was from and could relate to it quite a bit. We also had a Tastee-Freez where I was growing up. It was a huge chain back in the 60s and 70s and as the song suggests, a popular hangout for teenagers. Over the years they had become another of those chains that shrunk tremendously. The closest one to me now is almost 4 hours away. Now I want some soft serve.

Great reaction guys. Great song and artist. My favourite of his is The Authority Song. Hope you get to hear this at some point.

This song is a straight up piece of Americana. Never gets old.

Post Pink House's. That song was overplayed, but I had forgotten how much I loved that song. Next, Cherry Bomb, Ain't Even Done With the Night, Rain on the Scarecrow, Authority Song, I Need A Lover. Mellencamp also did a movie about his life, Falling From Grace, which he starred. Talented guy.

Saw him at the Greek a few years back. Sounded just as good live. Awesome concert.

Tastee Freeze is a fast food ice cream store. Selling vanilla or chocolate ice cream cones amongst other frozen treats. Their ice cream machines don't break down as much as McDonald's. Lol 🤣😆 These days you don't see too many standalone stores anymore. In my neck of the woods they are part of the Wiener Schnitzel franchise much like Carl's Jr. and Green Burrito. 😊

I remember being on a marching band trip when this was new; several people brought their boomboxes and were playing music for the road trip... This one came on and everybody in the bus was singing along at the top of their lungs. Great fun...

That line...'Hold on to 16 as long as you can...' he was very right.

More Mellencamp please!! I been begging for years. Finally 😊

This album introduced us to drummer Kenny Aronoff. Simple, yet powerful fills and grooves. This song has a simply powerful fill.(I'm a drummer, in case it wasn't obvious). Side note: I remember first seeing John Cougar on The Midnight Special a couple years before this and I didn't think much of what he was doing - more style than substance. This is miles better than that.

I saw John Cougar live in Louisville Kentucky in 1984, he rocked Freedom Hall for a solid 2 hours! One of the concerts I still say was so impressive in the fact that he just kept jamming! We all left feeling we got our ‘money worth’ and then some. What a fun time to be a teenager!

“Hurts so good “ is my favourite! ❤

“Rain on the Scarecrow”

Tastee-Freez was one of the best burger joints ever! ❤ I miss the delicious treats to this day. And yes, we wore Bobbie Brooks slacks, high waist, big legs, too cool 😎 for school, darlings! This is a classic, perfect song 🎵 👌 🙌 😍 👏 ❤️

The video goes so much better with this song❤. I remember seeing it on Cable when we first got cable many years ago. Out eyes were glued to the television. Something about it.

I was around 16 when this song came out and remember thinking, heck no I don’t want to hang onto 16. I want to be an adult. Haha. As someone once said, “Youth is wasted on the young.” So true!

Such a great song!

Early 80s. The best decade for popular music. Change my mind.

At 12/13 yrs old, it was always a HUGE treat when this song came on and I had my headphones on!

Warms my heart when you chose this JCM timeless classic . The lyrics are profound ... The arrangement of every instrument and vocals plays a unique role. "S" tier in my book . Other early gems worth noting: "Thundering Hearts", "Hurts So Good", "I Need a Lover" ...also "Play Guitar" . All great tunes. Stay cool in Florida!!

A&A, you'll love his "Hurts So Good", "Small Town" and "I Need A Lover" !!!

JCM has 20 other songs you could hit, but Cherry Bomb should be next. Uh-Huh would be a good full album review

Jack And Diane was a GIGANTIC hit on early MTV. As big as any song of the era. It was in very heavy rotation for what seemed like a year.

Old song, Loved it then, love it now. I'm at the point of my life of long after the thrill is gone in my life. I love the way Andy blushes about the line in the back seat of his car.😊😊😊

Minutes to memories. Rain on a scarecrow. Lonely ol night.

When my kids were young, we would put on a mix-tape or CD in the car. I used to tease them about when the singing would start on his song, "I Need A Lover". It has the longest inro in the world and it stops every few bars and invites you to think it's over, but it's not. 🙂

LOVE THIS SONG!! So GLAD ya'll finally listened to it!! Anything on SCARECROW is a BANGER - he had a LOT of GREAT TUNES!! THANKS, GUYS!!

Tastee-Freez is an American franchised fast-food restaurant founded in 1950 specializing in soft serve ice cream plus burgers, fries, etc. In 1957 there were 1800 locations, now just 4 today, but they became a brand of ice cream sold by others more than a retail location.

classic song about a classic moment in time

When the show, Blackish was on tv a few years ago, there were twins in the family on the show. It was a boy and a girl. Their names were Jack and Diane. I always wondered if those names were just randomly chosen or were they taken from this song.

Saw him open for Heart in 1982 when he was calling himself John Cougar. It was at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, and he changed the lyrics to "Two American kids growing up in the Meadowlands."

One of my favorites!

I think Pink Houses is S tier, a damn near perfect rock and roll song, musically and lyrically deep. J&D is right there. I might recommend Hurt So Good, I need a lover. Of course Small Town was probably his biggest hit but really I don't love it as much, but it is legendary I guess. Also Authority Song is a minor hit that I think really rocks. Ain't Even Done with the Night is an early song that really sticks to me, super catchy. Last and very important, Check it Out is potentially a sequel to Jack & Diane. Its about as deep as Pink Houses.

Hurts So Good! Thanks for all the great music and love how you guys enjoy hearing something great for the first time!

Based on Tennessee Williams' 'Sweet Bird of Youth,' this song ruled the Summer of '82 and spent four weeks at number one. Spending time on the Florida coast cruisin' to some John Cougar - great times.

He may well be the most underrated lyricist. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-UhTxL4FzP-Y.html "Jackie Brown" ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PL28-RVO0_E.html "Peaceful World" ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-e4KUmm0XsLY.html "Your Life is Now" ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GimNm_PKtYM.html "Check it Out" Mellencamp lyrics always speak to the underdog.

Alot of people used to make fun of him a bit...but you gotta agree now...john cougar Mellencamp is a top notch artist with a huge catalog of great songs..he is up there with Dillon and Springsteen..a true american rocker bad ass

Heard this song for more than forty years and I still enjoy it!

Saw JCM at the Jones Beach Theater when Wild Nights was out. It may have been my favorite show ever, just tons of fun and the violinist totally crushed it.

I went through a John Cougar phase in college, had all his albums on vinyl or cassette. Got to see him in concert back in the late 80s. He’s turned into an old curmudgeon but his music still hits.

Tastee Freeze is a soft serve ice cream/fast food franchise mainly found in small towns/rural America.....Similar to Dairy Queen.

Classic 😎 One of THE best songs ever 🎶 You you hear that riff and you know what's coming🙌

Huge respect to you both for just listening + enjoying the music, rather than speaking during most of the goose-bump inducing moments !! 🦄

I have long contended that "sucking on chili dogs outside the Tastee-Freeze" is one of the greatest American rock poetry lines ever. Meanwhile it occurred to me the other day that I don't recall that you'all have tried on Motorhead yet. "Ace of Spades" is the obvious first.

This song is like Bob Dylan meets Bob Seger

You needed to see the actual music video. Features him and Diane. So good!

Finnaly something from the Bob Segar of Indiana, Jhonny Cougar , John Cougar, John Cougar Mellencamp, John Mellencamp. His Label made him into Jhonny Cougar and it took a while to migragte back to his real name. Blood on the Scarecrow...The Authority song, and Crumblin' Down. These are some of my favorites.

He had the clap. hehe

Such a well arranged song. So much space for all the little nuances and nothing steps on each other's toes 🔥🔥🔥

Grade 7 when this came out. 80’s was the best times of my life. From John Cougar to Metallica. I turned 12 the summer of 82. Thanks for the flash back.

Awww, the first time I heard "I Need A Lover" , it was true love and the love affair continues to this day. "Junior" is a must listen. John Mellencamp has an incredible catalogue of work - just amazing!!!💕

This song was written and performed by JOHN COUGAR. There was no mention of Mellencamp yet.