JOHN MELLENCAMP - PAPER IN FIRE

Released: August 15, 1987

Charts:  US: #9   UK: #86 

Released on August 1987, “Paper in Fire” arrived as the lead single from John Mellencamp’s acclaimed ninth studio album, “The Lonesome Jubilee”. It quickly became one of the biggest hits of his career, climbing to No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and dominating the Album Rock Tracks chart, where it reached No. 1. In Canada, it went even further, topping The Record’s singles chart and reaching No. 3 on the RPM 100. The song set the tone for an album that blended rock with folk instrumentation and delivered some of the strongest social commentary of Mellencamp’s catalogue.

“Paper in Fire” helped define the sonic ambition of “The Lonesome Jubilee”, an album that combined rock with Appalachian influences. The song features prominent fiddle by Lisa Germano and accordion by John Cascella. Like much of the album “Paper in Fire” explores economic struggle, social inequality, and the collapse of hope for many working-class Americans. The metaphor at the center of the song—the idea of “paper in fire”—represents dreams that burn up before they have a chance to materialize.

Despite Mellencamp’s success at the time, his worldview remained grounded in the hardships of ordinary people. He refused to romanticize fame or ignore the struggles around him, and his writing only sharpened with his own personal grief. Around this period he had lost both his uncle and his grandfather, and many close friends were navigating divorce. As Mellencamp put it: “It’s horrible to think you’ve gotta be a miserable son of a bitch to write a good song—but I guess that’s kind of the way it works sometimes.”

Mellencamp biographer David Masciotra called the track a “ferocious song… the aural equivalent of a wild beast breaking out of its cage,” and noted its libertarian undertones. Mellencamp has said the song was also partly about his uncle Joe Mellencamp, describing him as both harsh to others and his own worst enemy—an embodiment of the family’s inherited anger. A notable line—“We keep no check on our appetites”—is lifted from the 1963 film “Hud”, starring Paul Newman. Mellencamp admired the film so much that he later named one of his sons Hud.

Much of the album’s material was shaped while Mellencamp and his band were touring behind “Scarecrow”. Long hours on the road allowed them to experiment with arrangements and develop the hybrid Americana sound that would become one of Mellencamp’s creative breakthroughs. He later noted that the Appalachian style of “Paper in Fire” predicted a musical trend that would spread across mainstream rock and pop in the years that followed.

The music video was filmed in Savannah, Georgia, outside a run-down house on a dirt road. Mellencamp deliberately sought to portray rural poverty and racial tension in America. The extras featured throughout the video are Black residents of the area, underscoring Mellencamp’s intent to highlight inequality. He would return to Savannah for the video of his next single, “Hard Times for an Honest Man.”