John Mellencamp - Hurts So Good

Do not adjust your ad-block, there really is a cougar in your area. Classic Rock Radio’s second favourite heartland son might have gone through more big cat-themed changes than a zoo with a hole in the fence, but as far as that twangy sound goes, he’s up there with the best of them. That’s not to say that Mellencamp has always struck the same chords; in a career spanning 35 years, he’s gone from fully fledged pop icon to the deservedly recognised singer-songwriter combo he’s spent all of that time being. Whether or not he has lived in a cave up a mountain and terrified climbers at any point in that 35 years isn’t on his Wikipedia page, so we can’t confirm or deny it.

Hurts So Good is a song straight out of the Springsteen playbook – bright guitar tone? Check. Clapping and some sort of organ in the bridge? Check. Questionable lyrics even for an 80s song? That’s check trois. With a particularly light and breezy sound, it’s never going to be one that comes on in a dive bar at closing time, let’s be honest. Still, it’s a product of it’s time by any metric and if you’re looking for a laid back rock ‘n roll track to close out your Friday, or start your weekend early, this is the choice we’re sliding across the table to you.

Here’s some bonus fun – skip to around 2:42 in the video to see just how uncomfortable Mellencamp is riding a motorcycle. It’s like he’s never even heard of one and all the bikers he’s with just stuck him on it as some sort of laugh or a hazing ritual.