John Cougar Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen are both singing about life in a small town, but their opinions seem to differ. Who’s right and why?
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John Cougar Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen are both singing about life in a small town, but their opinions seem to differ. Who’s right and why?
Springsteen’s opinion on small towns is that they’re suffocating and repressive and all around not somewhere you want to be, whereas Mellencamp takes the opposite side of things, stating that he’s proud of his small town and content to live and die there. Personally I think that Springsteen is right. Small towns offer little opportunity in the way of jobs, education, and stimulation and though I think that small towns are a good enough place to live out parts of your life, I feel it’s unwise to stay and never leave. Living in a small town usually makes you more likely to struggle financially and limits your opportunities for self betterment. Plus, living your whole life around the same people in the same place tends to breed contempt for outsiders and stifle empathy towards others who aren’t like us because your personal experiences are so limited. I don’t believe that staying your whole life in one small town is any way to live.
When talking about opinions of where to live, it cannot simply be said that it is better to live in one environment over the other one. There are benefits to each, regarding levels of privacy, connections, time management, and educational systems. Humbly, I would agree with Bruce Springsteen in his song, “Born to Run,” because there are hundreds of more options of entertainment, places to learn, more experiences, and many more advantages. Coming from a small town with really nothing to do but shop along highways or eat in restaurant chains, adapting to Charleston life has been a change for the better. Getting away from small-minded people and towards a society that is more open has drastically changed my life for the better. The people around Charleston have a more open way of life, along with a lot more things to do on the weekend. Springsteen sings, “…this town rips the bones from your back/ It’s a death trap…” It resembles what I haven been saying where there is nowhere to hide in a small town. With little to do and see, you are exposed which is not a pleasant feeling.
Bruce Springsteen is right because in his song, “Born to Run,” he believes that nothing is there for him and his girl, Wendy, if they stay in the small town. One should venture out and discover new surroundings than stay around in a familiar place for the rest of his/her life. John Cougar Mellencamp’s song, “Small Town,” states that small towns do have family members, friends, and a personal history, but staying in those towns will not offer many opportunities for people. Without taking advantage of opportunities that could have benefits for the future, one can not reach all of his/her potential and life would have been wasted away. Small towns also have a sense of boundaries that nobody can step out of and there is no place to feel free. Springsteen comments about people running to get away but there is no place to get away from everybody. Since life in a small town is usually characterized as consisting of people who have known each other for all of their lives, some can feel trapped and begin to wonder what life will be like if it did not continue in a small town. Life is supposed to be filled with new experiences that come from different places, but if life continues to be lived in a small town, then those experiences will not be witnessed.
Mellencamp and Springsteen have varying opinions on life in a small town- Springsteen writes of a youthful desire to leave the small town he grew up in, in pursuit of something bigger than himself. To Springsteen, smalltown life include “highways jammed with broken heroes” and an overwhelming desire to “run” to somewhere different. On the other hand, Mellencamp embraces the nature of small town life, with a slightly romantic tone- he even refers to himself as a “boring romantic” in the song. Mellencamp makes claims that he has “seen it all in a small town” and encourages people not to “forget where they come from”. I do not think that one song is any more correct than the other, but instead the songwriters just have different perspectives. Springsteen’s view seems to be one of someone youthful, who wants to see the world and experience what the “American dream” has to offer for him personally. In contrast, Mellencamp seems to have grown up in a small town, left, and then returned because he learned to love where he came from. Therefore Mellencamp is at peace with not only living in a small town, but also dying there- making him a permanent resident of his home. He has the perspective of someone with more time and wisdom under his belt than his also legendary counterpart.
I was brought up in a town that, if put into the perspective of Estonia as a country, would not be considered small. Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is also the biggest town in Estonia, with a population of 436,576 or 32% of the population of the country. However starting from quite a young age my perspective has rather been in comparison to the rest of the world, instead of just my country, which has, especially for the last two to three years, made me feel as if I’m trapped in this endless circle of places I already know and people I have already met, and this was the reason why much like Bruce Springsteen, I wanted to and decided to run away from my hometown.
However, I could not say that because of this I feel that Bruce Springsteen was right and Mellencamp was not, as I also understand Mellencamp’s feel of connection to his hometown and the place he had been raised, especially now that I have been pushed out of my comfort zone into a world I am not yet familiar with, surrounded by people most of who I have not yet met. A part of me wishes that I could go back to my hometown where I know where I belong and who I belong with, instead of being here, 4767 miles away from what I have, for the last 19 years of my life, considered home.
The definition of right states that something is correct and justified and in the case of Mellencamp and Springsteen both men are justified in their statements; however, these are opinions and neither can be right nor wrong.
All speculations on word choice aside, I personally side with Springsteen. Having grown up in Atlanta, I have grown accustomed to the endless restaurant, concert, and event options available at every hour. I fell in love with the diversity and culture at a young age and could not imagine living anywhere else.
At the end of my eighth grade year my parents moved to Jacksonville, Florida. To the general population Jacksonville is a seemingly large city, but those who live there know that it is broken into major subsections and there is little to do without traveling long distances. I spent my first three years of high school in Jacksonville struggling to go back to Atlanta. I wanted the opportunities and excitement that a large city instantaneously satisfies. For my senior year of high school, I returned to Atlanta and lived with dear family friends. I no longer had to drive over forty-five minutes for an art museum or over two hours for a concert, everything I could possibly want was at my fingertips.
Both Springsteen and I tried for years to break out of towns that we found rather lackluster and both romanticized the idea of going to a larger city with endless resources and excitement.
I come from a huge suburban area—neither small town nor big city, and that state of in-between is almost detrimental to the people living there. The “living in a bubble” phenomena is rampant, mostly amongst teenagers and young adults. However, I’ve been fortunate enough to have spent a significant amount of time in the very small Pennsylvania town of Clarion that my father grew up in. There are certainly pros and cons to both places as far as hometowns are concerned, but I subscribe to the John Mellencamp philosophy on the issue of small towns. There is nothing like the familiarity of broken up sidewalks from hundred-year-old trees and coffee shops run by your old babysitter. You can’t find those things in the community where I’m from which is celebrating only its 20th birthday this year. Although I wasn’t raised in Clarion, it always felt like more of a home to me than Ashburn, Virginia. It is a place that never escapes your consciousness; a place you know you can always go home to; a place that elicits a sigh of relief the moment you step back into it. You could run in a Springsteenian decision, but in the end, the small town that’s in your bones will always call you back, and Mellencamp will prevail.
Compared to Charleston, I live in a small town back home in Maryland. I may not know all the people who live in my town, but I sure do know a whole bunch. They have shaped who I am as a person today, and while I may not be living in that small town right now, my heart sure is. The person I am today and will be may travel all over the world, but I will forever be anchored to my town in Maryland. They watched grow up, learn to ride a bike, helped me when my dog ran away. My town does not judge me for who I am or what I want, but instead allows me to “breathe” and just be me without judgment. My family lives there, my best friends, my beliefs, my values, my bed. John Cougar Mellencamp was right in saying that he will forever be apart of his small town throughout his life. That is the place he first put his roots down, and therefore they have the deepest hold. We are where we put our roots down, and wherever those first roots grow will stay with us forever, always holding on to the dirt from home.
While I would not say either of them were right or wrong, Bruce Springsteen’s view resonated with me more. Small towns are safe and quiet, and in my opinion if you stay in one forever you will never accomplish much. There isn’t room to grow, nor is there room for opportunity. I feel like the only thing that keeps me from being bored all the time is meeting new people, seeing new things, and going to new places. You can do all of those things in a larger town, and while one could argue that someone from a small town could always travel and see those things, they never do. I for one have a second or third cousin (whom I’ve never met) who lives in Mountain City, Tennessee, a town with a population under 3,000. He is in his 50s and has never once stepped foot outside of that town and apparently refuses to. So in the end, it’s not really about the towns themselves, it’s about those who live in the towns. To someone like me, small town life seems too slow, too simple, and unfulfilling.
This is a hard post to take a side on because I love Springsteen and mellencamp And these songs are two classics (however I do prefer the non acoustic born to run better). In springsteen’s born to run, he talks about life in a small town and how he was “born” for something more, something better. In mellencamp’s small town he talks about how he was born in a small town and how all he seems to know is the small town and the small town is basically apart of him. Coming from Greenville, SC which isn’t a very small town, I can’t identify with either of these to the level of one being correct or incorrect. I can however identify with Greenville because it is definitely apart of me and it always will be. I have to agree with mellencamp’s opinion because your hometown no matter if it’s small or not will always be apart of you and it is apart of who you are, but not everyone was “born to run” and leave their hometown.
John Cougar Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen are both singing about small towns, but after analyzing their lyrics, their opinions on small towns seem to differ. Mellencamp sings about being born and raised in a small town and spending his entire life in a small town; whereas Springsteen compares a small town to a death trap and his desire to get away from it. Mellencamp describes his small town as a humble place where he can be himself and know everyone surrounding him. Springsteen has a more negative connotation towards his small town unlike Mellencamp; Springsteen uses words such as death, suicide, and trap to describe the small town in his song. Coming from a small town my personal experience has been much like Springsteen’s. Small towns limit a person’s possibilities and can easily be compared to a death trap. Big cities offer numerous possibilities unlike small towns which seem to hold back a person. Many people in small towns are not open to change, and they care little about success. Springsteen describes his desire to escape the trap of his small town to break free into a city where he can guard his friend Wendy’s dreams and visions, and where he can live among other people as crazy as himself.
I grew up in Knoxville, TN. I made the move to Johnsonville, SC, and lived there for 4 years. I have a lot of feelings about this topic. I grew up traveling and learning about the world. Growing up in a city, I was exposed to diversity. I was exposed to different ways of life, different religions, and different ethnic backgrounds. Acceptance wasn’t really a lesson I had to be taught; it was kind of expected. Once I moved to “small town USA,” I realized that not everyone is like that. There was one stoplight, one school, one type of person: Johnsonville. If you weren’t born that person, you were always going to be an outsider. No matter how long I lived there, I was never going to be considered one of them. When I heard “aunt so-and-so” being referred to the vice principal, I made the connection that everyone was related. Once I made that connection, I realized that for generations, no one had left that small town. They all seemed perfectly happy raising their children in the town where their parents were raised and the town that their parents were raised. I also realized; however, that they were all; happy and comfortable in the town of Johnsonville. Many, if not most, of the teachers at Johnsonville High School were alumni of Johnsonville High School.
In conclusion, John Mellancamp captures the small-town mentality. When they are raised there, when it is all they know, they can’t seem to leave. They are content with the norm. Change and diversity are scary. They are uncomfortable. When someone is born somewhere void of change and diversity, they choose to avoid it….forever. They end up staying in one place for generations. This isn’t a bad thing; this was just my observation as a student at JHS. They have created a “comfort bubble,” and anyone or anything threatening to pop this bubble with the idea of change is unwanted. As long as everything stays the same, everyone is happy.
John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Small Town” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” illustrate two different views on small town life. Although I am not from a small town, I find myself agreeing with Springsteen. While the security of a small town can be soothing, that small town atmosphere that Mellencamp relishes can sometimes feel too constricting and become suffocating. Springsteen makes known the importance of leaving home and testing oneself, (both physically and mentally) in order to explore beyond the security blanket of a small town. While the sight of familiar faces and features of a place where a person grew up can certainly feel reassuring (especially when feeling lost), that same small town can limit a person on expanding his/ her horizons. I truly believe that we should never reach the point where we feel too comfortable with aspects of our lives that things feel ordinary, or worse: boring. Family, friends, and familiar surroundings may always reside in the small town, but the opportunities may not. Sometimes we should “run” (as Springsteen sings) towards those opportunities.
John Cougar Mellencamp and Bruce Springsteen both craft well-written pieces of music describing their respective opinions about life in a small town. While Springsteen sings an edgy piece that does a great injustice to small town living, Mellencamp more accurately captures the full essence and beauty of life in a small town. Mellencamp’s major theme is small town community; the fellowship that comes from living together in a small town. Mellencamp warmly concludes his first verse with “Oh, those small communities”. He goes on to sing “All my friends are so small town”, and he further continues with the theme of friendship and community when he belts “I cannot forget the people who love me.” The theme of community threads through the entire work. Mellencamp cherished and understood just how unique and special those small town relationships truly are. Springsteen has no such appreciation for these relationships nor does he even hesitate to mention anything about small town community. His song is riddled with lust and restlessness, and he completely neglects the best thing about life in a small town. He is so anxious to leave with his girlfriend that he never takes the time to appreciate the true beauty of small town community. Living in a small town forges relationships that simply do not exist in big cities. Mellencamp humbly admits this truth when he sings “No I cannot forget where it is that I come from.” Small town life dominates American literature in novels such as The Little House on the Praire, A River Runs Through It, and many more. All these novels celebrate the beauty and uniqueness of small town community. Mellencamp captures the essence of small town life, but Springsteen misses the point.
In both songs, one by John Mellencamp and one by Bruce Springsteen, the life of a young adult living in a small town is analyzed. These lives are greatly contrasted from one another; John Mellencamp sings about the positive aspects of small towns while Bruce Springsteen sings about getting out. Bruce Springsteen’s, “Born to Run” provides listeners with a better depiction of what upper teenagers and young adults feel after a childhood in a small town for numerous reasons. First, the age of eighteen carries a lot of weight. All one’s life they look up to one birthday which carries them over the boundary of being a child to a legal adult. Once the day has come life is flipped upside down. I made it! So what. This should be a time of change and growth in order to embrace the overwhelming world. Also, how is one to fully appreciate and grasp the world when they have no exposure to it? It is vital for the development of a healthy well-rounded brain to see different sights, walk different paths, and hear different stories in order to obtain even a glimpse of the horizon. Staying in one small town inhibits the brain from expanding and an individual from growing.
While Mellencamp and Springsteen have extremely different opinions about small towns, their views are clearly personal. Mellencamp seems to admire his life in a small town, and Springsteen feels trapped. Neither one is “right”. How could one decide if a person’s feelings are correct or not? Personally, I would agree with Springsteen because I would want to experience new things and get away from a place I have known my whole life. Mellencamp understands that the small town is lacking in opportunity, but he does not pursue it. I would not be able to sit and watch the years and opportunities go by, which is what Mellencamp seems to be doing. Springsteen dramatizes the issues and his concerns, but I admire his thoughts to leave and pursue what is important to him. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being from a small town and being content with your life there. There are different types of people, and personally I would identify more with Springsteen.
Both Bruce Springstien and John Cougar Mellencamp saw their small towns in different lights. I’d assert that neither of them were “right” in their analysis of life in a small town. Bruce said that he couldn’t wait to get out of the small town and that he was “born to run” aka. ready to get out as soon as possible. On the other hand, John was very content with his life in a small-town. He sang about how he met a girl from another small-town and how he was perfectly happy marrying her. Coming from a small town myself, I understand the draw to leave and explore new pastures, but I am thankful that I grew up in such a tight nit community. That is something that is hard to find and that’s why I will always be happy to go back. I think that both artists had similar experiences and different opinions on them. I know that when looking at each others viewpoints, they would definitely be able to appreciate where the other person is coming from.
One person’s opinion on a small town may differ from another person’s, but that does not mean he or she is wrong. I cannot full judge how it feels to live in a small town because I grew up right outside of Memphis, Tennessee. I feel like John Cougar Mellencamp’s small town describes all of the positive aspects of his town and clouds the harsh reality. The intriguing part of Mellencamp’s town was that he could be himself and not have to constantly buy the big name brands like in New York City. In contrast, Bruce Springsteen’s small town is described as “rip[ing] the bones from your back.” This analogy does not make listeners want to live in or even near a small town. Springsteen’s small town seems to relay all of the negative parts of living in a small town. Both songs demonstrate life in a small town, but in opposite ways. I feel as though Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” characterizes a small town the best by scratching through the gold surface to reveal the truth.
Bruce Springsteen is right. In Mellencamps song he sees the small town as his home where his whole world is. His family, education, love life, friends, religion all exist and came from or were brought to the small town. However Springsteen wants nothing more than to escape the small town before he becomes settled like Mellencamp seems to be. Springsteen has a thirst for adventure whereas Mellencamp is complacent. Having a sense of community and belonging is not the problem for me but the complacency and contentment of never leaving the small town behind and seeing the world and all it has to offer is. The world is full of culture, beauty and feats of wonder that people who have the attitude of Mellencamp will never see while the Springsteens of the world will be running soaking up everything the rest of the world has to offer. Personally I want nothing more than to see the world and its people; no part of me wants to remain in one small town for the rest of my life.
After reading the lyrics to both Springsteen and Mellencamp’s songs, I have come to the decision that it is unfair to say that either take on the “small town” is more right than the other, because both were based on very personal experiences. I think that both give an interesting take on a similar environment that gave them two totally different feelings. Springsteen’s take is much more finite, as if he is trying to convey that living in a small town makes you much less significant and much more disposable, as displayed by the workers that lost their jobs in his hometown. Personally, my father is from a small town in Missouri called East Prairie. He moved to Charleston when he got out of the Navy and met and married my mother there. My brothers and I have been raised our whole lives here, but we visit East Prairie each summer for two weeks. I relate a lot more with Mellencamp’s take on a small town because i like to think that even when all the people are gone, there is still the legacy of the small town and the life there continues on. In the more recent years, my father’s parents have been more and more sick, and it is evident to my whole family that our time left with them is scarce and therefore more appreciated. I would like to say that for me, Mellencamp does a better job of explaining a small town, because no matter how small that small town is, there is still significant meaning to its presence and the people in it. Even when my grandparents are long gone, their ties to that small town will always remain there, as will my father’s and all my family’s.