Crumblin' Down
"Crumblin' Down" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by John Cougar Mellencamp | ||||
from the album Uh-Huh | ||||
B-side | "Golden Gates" | |||
Released | October 1983 | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 3:33 | |||
Label | Riva | |||
Songwriter(s) | John Mellencamp, George Green | |||
Producer(s) | John Mellencamp, Don Gehman | |||
John Cougar Mellencamp singles chronology | ||||
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"Crumblin' Down" is a rock song co-written and performed by John Mellencamp, released as the lead single from his 1983 album Uh-Huh. It was a top-ten hit on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and Canadian pop charts, and it reached #2 on the US Mainstream Rock charts.
Background
"Crumblin' Down" was written by Mellencamp and longtime writing partner George Green. It was the last song recorded for Uh-Huh; after listening to the masters for the other tracks recorded, Mellencamp decided that the album needed a song that would work as the album's lead single. He contacted Green, with whom he had previously written "Hurts So Good," to solicit ideas. Green had begun a song with lines about walls crumbling down; he and Mellencamp then built the song by trading lines, attempting to top one another.[1]: 64
According to Green, the song attempts to answer the question of what to do when success eventually fades, and "the big-time deal falls through."[1]: 64 The song touches on Mellencamp's fame as well as the frustrations of losing one's livelihood: the lyrics were inspired, in part, by Mellencamp's cousin losing his job as an electrical engineer.[1]: 65
In a 2016 Mellencamp-dedicated exhibit at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a display was emblazoned with the following quote from Mellencamp: "Crumblin' Down is a very political song that I wrote with my childhood friend George Green. Reagan was president - he was deregulating everything and the walls were crumbling down on the poor. The song was the last one recorded and the first single. It was a hit immediately. I felt like I was pulling the wool over everyone's eyes."
The video for "Crumblin' Down" received heavy play on MTV. It featured a chain-smoking Mellencamp in intentionally ripped denim jeans, dancing and kicking over chairs on a stage in an empty auditorium.[1]: 65 As the video progresses, he dances among a row of parking meters, climbs and descends a tall stepladder, and gains a three-piece backing band as accompaniment for the final chorus. "Crumblin' Down" was the first single released by Mellencamp to include his real last name: previous releases were credited to "John Cougar."[2]
"Crumblin' Down" was the lead single from Uh-Huh,[1]: 65 following his previous hit single "Hand to Hold on To" (from 1982's American Fool) to the Billboard Top 40, where it debuted October 22, 1983.[2] It peaked at number 9 on that chart and at number 2 on the Mainstream Rock chart.[3]
"Crumblin' Down" is also included on Mellencamp's greatest hits compilations The Best That I Could Do 1978–1988 and Words & Music: John Mellencamp's Greatest Hits.[4]
Charts
Chart (1983–1984) | Peak position |
---|---|
Argentina[5] | 7 |
Canada RPM Top Singles | 9 |
US Billboard Hot 100[6] | 9 |
US "Billboard" Mainstream Rock | 2 |
Popular culture
- In the Season 2 of the hit 1980s TV series Knight Rider, an episode titled "White Line Warriors" features the song playing on the radio when burglaries in a small town take place.
References
- ^ a b c d e Johnson, Heather (November 1, 2007). Born In A Small Town. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-8256-7336-8.
- ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (8th ed.). Billboard Books. p. 419. ISBN 0-8230-7499-4.
- ^ "John Mellencamp: Billboard Singles". allmusic. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
- ^ "John Mellencamp: Crumblin' Down". allmusic. Retrieved November 7, 2010.
- ^ "Cash Box - International Best Sellers" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com. Cash Box. 30 June 1984. p. 26.
- ^ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- v
- t
- e
- Chestnut Street Incident (1976)
- A Biography (1978)
- John Cougar (1979)
- Nothin' Matters and What If It Did (1980)
- American Fool (1982)
- The Kid Inside (1983)
- Uh-huh (1983)
- Scarecrow (1985)
- The Lonesome Jubilee (1987)
- Big Daddy (1989)
- Whenever We Wanted (1991)
- Human Wheels (1993)
- Dance Naked (1994)
- Mr. Happy Go Lucky (1996)
- John Mellencamp (1998)
- Rough Harvest (1999)
- Cuttin' Heads (2001)
- Trouble No More (2003)
- Freedom's Road (2007)
- Life, Death, Love and Freedom (2008)
- No Better Than This (2010)
- Plain Spoken (2014)
- Sad Clowns & Hillbillies (2017)
- Strictly a One-Eyed Jack (2022)
- Orpheus Descending (2023)
- Life, Death, Live and Freedom (2009)
- Performs Trouble No More Live at Town Hall (2014)
- Plain Spoken: From the Chicago Theatre (2018)
- The Best That I Could Do 1978–1988 (1997)
- Words & Music: John Mellencamp's Greatest Hits (2004)
- On the Rural Route 7609 (2010)
- Other People's Stuff (2018)
- "I Need a Lover"
- "This Time"
- "Ain't Even Done with the Night"
- "Hurts So Good"
- "Jack & Diane"
- "Crumblin' Down"
- "Pink Houses"
- "Lonely Ol' Night"
- "Small Town"
- "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A."
- "Paper in Fire"
- "Cherry Bomb"
- "Check It Out"
- "Pop Singer"
- "Wild Night"
- "Key West Intermezzo (I Saw You First)"
- "Just Another Day"
- "Peaceful World"
- "Walk Tall"
- "Our Country"
- "My Sweet Love"
- "What Say You" (with Travis Tritt)
- Discography
- George Green
- Farm Aid
- Falling from Grace (1992)
- Ghost Brothers of Darkland County (2012)
- Elaine Irwin
- Meg Ryan