Cherry Bomb History

Upon a simple internet search of 80’s culture, one’s computer is flooded with images of neon colors, big hair, disco stars and leg warmers. On the other hand, the 70’s brings up photos and collages of rock and roll concerts, hippies, and politics. Somewhere between the two widely recognizable eras in American pop culture, rock began to branch out and take the form of several different subgenres. Following the conclusion of the Vietnam War in 1975 and the election of Ronald Reagan in ’81, patriotism was at an all-time high and the idealism of small town America had reached its peak. Heartland rock emerged in the mid-80s, a blend of Americana, country and rock themes, drawing off the essence of rockabilly and Johnny Cash. Guitars, accordions,

The strophic song is heavily country-influenced and illustrates him as a teenager in a small town, accompanied by brothers, friends and girls before launching into a catchy, reminiscent refrain. It starts off forte, allegro with an ensemble of various guitars, drums, an accordion and a fiddle. The instruments fade to just a guitar and drums during the first strophe before picking up again in a crescendo with the addition of another voice for the refrain. An accordion keeps the beat light and allegro. The fiddle adds variety to the polyphony during the refrain before the other instruments drop out to a violin-exclusive harmony. The cycle repeats until the tempo slows to allegro moderato for a bridge, during which Mellencamp addresses that he is now an adult and does not know what he is supposed to be doing. Following the bridge, the final refrain is more reflective than the last and seems to come to terms with growing older. Mellencamp used “Cherry Bomb” to sum up his feelings of nostalgia towards his youth as well as blended country and rock in a representation of where he began and where he was

Falling into the “Arena Rock era”, the artists between 1978 and 1985 had “big stadium ambitions” as well as several chord changes in common (Mauch et al, 3). While the music of heartland rock shared many of the same characteristics in terms of tempo, dynamics and texture, their artists preferred to add their own touch. For example, while both had partners throughout their careers, the timbres utilized differed: Springsteen preferred Clarence Clemons on the saxophone and Mellencamp kept Lisa Germano as a touring fiddler. Clemons and his saxophone helped give Springsteen a jazzier feel while Germano kept Mellencamp in touch with his small-town, Midwest origins. Personalization helped heartland rock artists to aim “for 'authenticity' rather than state-of-the-art sound” (Pareles, “Heartland Rock: Bruce’s Children”). Such authenticity helped the music of the subgenre relate to the average American, to whom those very songs became