Meaning of John Mellencamp’s Jack & Diane
This song was released during July of 1982, back during Mellencamp’s “John Cougar” days. It was also circa this era, i.e. the 1980s, in which the singer experienced his most-notable success. For example, Mellencamp’s album American Fool (1982), from which Jack & Diane served as the second single, topped the Billboard 200 and has gone on to achieve quintuple-platinum status in both the US and Canada. The song itself was also a major hit, in that it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, the once-relevant Cash Box Top 100 and Canada Top Singles. In fact, this is the only track that Mellencamp, who has now been in the game for over 40 years, has ever dropped which reached the summit of the Hot 100.
The Composition
John Mellencamp wrote Jack & Diane, and he produced it with Don Gehman. And the singer has made some interesting observations concerning its composition. First of all, as originally written, “Jack was an African-American” and as such, the narrative itself revolved around an interracial couple. But it was his label, presumably the since-defunct Riva Record (who put this song out), that convinced him otherwise.
Cougar also pointed out that he has no problem playing this song solo, backed only by his guitar. But when it came time to actually record it with a band, there were issues due to the “starting and stopping” of the music. But that was ultimately rectified, in a way, by hand clapping, which was originally intended as a means for the instrumentalists to keep time but ended up being included on the final track.
Other Facts
John Mellencamp has reportedly noted that Jack & Diane was initially inspired by a 1962 film, starring Paul Newman, titled Sweet Birth of Youth. But it has also been put forth that this piece is based on youth in Seymour, Indiana, i.e. the small city which is his hometown.
Mellencamp singled out the late Mick Ronson (1946-1993) as being “very instrumental” in the arrangement of this song.
Jack & Diane has thus far been sampled onto two notable hits, I Think I’m in Love with You (2000) by Jessica Simpson and I Was Jack (You Were Diane) (2018) by Jake Owen.
The RIAA has certified this track gold by 1982 standards, with it having sold a million copies, which in more recent times (i.e. since 1989) would be considered platinum.
Apparently, John’s label was so uninspired with Jack & Diane that they didn’t even bother trying to make a music video for it. So Mellencamp took the initiative himself, prompting the production company who created the videos for the other singles from American Fool to “save one roll of film”, which they used to record him singing Jack & Diane and subsequently intermixed the footage “some old photos and stuff” from Cougar’s youth. So that’s what ended up being the official visual to this song, as directed by Bruce Gowers (1940-2023).
There is a movie that came out in 2012 titled Jack & Diane, a horror film actually, starring Riley Keough, which revolves around a lesbian romance. But Mellencamp has pointed out that he had nothing to do with that project, nor does his song make an appearance. And along those same lines, there are a couple of main characters from the hit sitcom Black-ish whose names were also apparently inspired by this song.
Interpretation of the Lyrics to Jack & Diane
Let’s theorize that the era in which John Mellencamp was a teenager, i.e. the 1960s, was the period in American history in which youth really began to practice or at least idealize independence from their families. The reason we’re making that speculation is because there seems to have been a handful of songs, like this one, which came out circa the late-1970s, i.e. after those teens had reached adulthood, based on the notion that being a grownup, as opposed to a teenager, isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And it can further be said that is particularly within the context of making romantic/sexual decisions while young that one may later come to regret.
Actually, there really isn’t any type of lesson contained in Jack & Diane per se. However there is a philosophy, if you will. And that is the teenage years indeed being an exciting time in life, especially, in context, from a romantic/sexual perspective. But that “thrill” doesn’t last forever. And when it “is gone”, “life goes on” nonetheless.
So here we have Jack and Diane, who are a pair of bonking teenagers and furthermore, it would appear, in love. We can make that latter speculation based on the fact that Jack actually introduces the idea of the two of them running away together, one which Diane appears to reject.
But in furthering his argument, it seems that what Jack is getting at, concerning the thesis philosophy of this track, is that they should capitalize on their youth. Or another way of looking at it is as this couple being at that age where adventurism is normal. So the way Jack sees it, being 16 is something you ‘hold onto as long as you can’. In other words, he reads like someone who wants to enjoy being young before the onset of the inevitable depression that comes along with being a full-fledged adult. Or in the very least, he is using such a position to rationalize his desire to run away with Diane.
That’s one reasonable way of making sense out of this track. The interesting thing about Jack & Diane is that it was a really big hit, even though the actual meaning of the song is kinda ambiguous. But that lack of comprehension, if you will, may be due to the fact that, as noted earlier, Mellencamp was forced to make modifications to the original composition. That is to say that if these lyrics were relayed within the context of a mid-to-late 20th century interracial couple in America, then the thesis sentiment, as described above, would probably make more sense.
