| "Paper in Fire" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by John Cougar Mellencamp | ||||
| from the album The Lonesome Jubilee | ||||
| B-side | "Never Too Old" | |||
| Released | August 15, 1987 | |||
| Studio | Belmont Mall Studio, Indiana | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:51 | |||
| Label | Mercury | |||
| Songwriter(s) | John Mellencamp | |||
| Producer(s) | John Mellencamp, Don Gehman | |||
| John Cougar Mellencamp singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Paper in Fire" is a song by American rock singer John Mellencamp, released on August 15, 1987, as the first single from his ninth studio album The Lonesome Jubilee.
The song was a commercial success, reaching number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It also topped the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and the Canadian Singles Chart, and charted on various European singles charts.
Mellencamp biographer David Masciotra called it a "ferocious song" that is the "aural equivalent of a wild beast breaking out of its cage." [3] Masciotra describes it as having a libertarian theme.[3] Mellencamp has said that the song is about his uncle Joe Mellencamp, who could be cruel to others and his own worst enemy, saying that "'Paper in Fire' is about Joe, and the family's ingrained anger...It is tragic when families don't grow up."[3]
Cash Box said that "AOR will undoubtedly benefit from this one - as will Top 40 radio, music video saturation is guaranteed."[4]
- ^ Pollock, Bruce (18 March 2014). Rock Song Index: The 7500 Most Important Songs for the Rock and Roll Era. Routledge. p. 276. ISBN 978-1-135-46296-3.
- ^ Himes, Geoffrey (July 22, 1992). "JOHN MELLENCAMP". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
- ^ a b c Masciotra, David (2022). Mellencamp: American Troubadour. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 99–100, 140. ISBN 9780813195582.
- ^ "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. August 22, 1987. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-09-11.