"Small Town" is John Mellencamp's greatest anthem, from the album Scarecrow, which is one of the great recordings of the 1980s, full of ire for those who repossess on family farms in tough times, nostalgia for his upbringing in an earlier era, and celebrating of the American entrepreneurial spirit of touring rock n' roll bands.
The 1980s in the United States was a time where the drummer could just crack down a backbeat on the snare, sticks twirling in the free air between the hits, while a guitar strummed, and crowds would go delirious. It was a time and place.
John Mellencamp is a liberal with working class roots who was and remains proud of the small town where he grew up.
I am also proud of my small town upbringing, the way my life wasn't surrounded by the entertainments of the modern city, forcing me to develop my own resources, which led me to writing and performing music with friends who I am still close with to this very day. I think there are definitely advantages to the simpler way of life in small towns, which is why I make sure my boys get back to the small town often, so they can witness some of this simplicity and the generalized tough decency.
But as with most pride, I try to self-temper it in the interest of both modesty and perspective.
There were reasons I left the small town, after all, and those reasons (jobs, cultural attitudes, an interest to be in a place that interacts with the wider world) have only been magnified as the politics of our country have driven a wedge between the rural and urban worlds.
As in many other aspects of my experience, I find myself with a foot in both worlds, witnessing how much commonality and comradeship there really could be. But neither group wants to hear. Both are convinced of their superiority. The small towns are especially keyed into a sense of superiority, but when I see small town people visiting the city, I see their enjoyment and jealousy of all the shared attractions and resources, coupled with a palpable fear of so many folks unlike themselves. The big cities see themselves as superior for their diversity and rigor but are also full of people who have never seen a fully starlit sky. Each world has its flock, and they don't often enough stray from their pastures and shepherds.
Become a citizen of both worlds, and the fullest appreciation of John Mellencamp's song will emerge for you.