Top Ten Songs by John "Cougar" Mellencamp

When I decided to write about the Top Ten songs of John “Cougar” Mellencamp, I discovered this would be no easy task. I have quite a few of his CD’s, mostly the early ones from the 80’s, and it became apparent that John has way more than 10 top songs. John “Cougar” Mellencamp is an American Icon who has sang songs for the working man, the under privileged, those who are struggling to make ends meet. His songs touch our soul as well as our heart. Each song speaks to us personally, it’s like John got in our heads and wrote our thoughts.

In 1985 John was quoted saying, “There is nothing more sad or glorious than generations changing hands.” This saying still rings true today and today’s generation would do good to listen to the songs of those days by John “Cougar” Mellencamp. His early music was born out of people who worked the land and John was one of the founders of Farm Aid, along with Willie Nelson and Neil Young. The first concert was held September 22, 1985 in Champaign, Illinois.

Choosing these songs was a difficult undertaking and some of my favorites were not popular radio songs. I had to decide if I should go with “classic” John “Cougar” Mellencamp that appealed to a more general audience, or go with my favorites that speak volumes beyond what his popular songs did. I chose to go with “classic” John because those are the ones you’ll know.

10. “I Need a Lover” was a popular song because it was upbeat and a good dance tune. It’s from the album “John Cougar” which was released in 1979.

9. “Ain’t Even Done with the Night” was a popular song between couples. It was on the album “Nothing Matters and What if it Did?” from 1980.

8. “Hand to Hold on To” from the 1982 album “American Fool”, simply tells the world that we all need a hand to hold on to sometimes, no matter who we are.