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 | ||||
| ||||
"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[edit]
"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[edit]
| 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[edit]
- 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[edit]
- ^ 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