Hurts So Good

"Hurts So Good" is a song by American singer-songwriter John Mellencamp, then performing under the stage name "John Cougar". The song was a number two hit on the Billboard Hot 100[3] for the singer/songwriter. It was the first of three major hit singles from his 1982 album American Fool. The others were "Jack & Diane" and "Hand to Hold On To," which were all released in 1982. The song was also a critical success with Mellencamp, winning the Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male at the 25th Grammy Awards on February 23, 1983.

This article is about the John Mellencamp song. For the Astrid S song, see Hurts So Good (Astrid S song). For the Millie Jackson song that was later covered by Susan Cadogan and Jimmy Sommerville, see It Hurts So Good.

"Hurts So Good"
Single by John Cougar
from the album American Fool
B-side"Close Enough"
ReleasedApril 1982 (1982-04)
StudioCherokee, Los Angeles[1]
GenrePop rock[2]
Length3:39[1]
LabelRiva
Songwriter(s)John Mellencamp, George Green
Producer(s)John Mellencamp, Don Gehman[1]
John Cougar singles chronology
"Ain't Even Done with the Night"
(1981)		 "Hurts So Good"
(1982)		 "Jack & Diane"
(1982)
Music video
"Hurts So Good" on YouTube

Background and recording

"Hurts So Good" was written by Mellencamp and George Green, Mellencamp's childhood friend and occasional writing partner. The song was first conceived, Mellencamp claims, when he had uttered the phrase "hurt so good.” Mellencamp repeated the lines to Green, and they finished the song very quickly.[4] In 2004, Mellencamp expounded on the writing of "Hurts So Good" in an interview with American Songwriter magazine: "George Green and I wrote that together. We exchanged lines back and forth between each other and laughed about it at the time. Then I went and picked up the guitar, and within seconds, I had those chords."[5]

The song was recorded at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, California and was engineered by Don Gehman and George Tutko. Backing Mellencamp were Larry Crane and Mike Wanchic (guitars, backing vocals), Kenny Aronoff (drums), George "Chocolate" Perry (bass) and Dave Parman (backing vocals).[1]

Reception

Cash Box said that "steady 4/4 snare work and choppy fuzz tone guitar chords kick off this steel-edged pop/rocker."[2]

Music video

Much of the video was filmed in Medora, Indiana, a small town located approximately 20 mi (30 km) southwest of Seymour, Indiana, where Mellencamp was born and raised.

Charts

The song hit number one on Billboard's Hot Tracks mainstream rock chart. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 7, 1982, and, although it failed to make number one, it spent 16 weeks in the top 10, the longest time for any song in the 1980s. It was kept off the top spot by "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor.[6] The song was listed at #83 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of All Time.[6]

The single was also a hit in Canada reaching #3 on RPM magazine's Top 50 Singles chart.[7] It reached number five in Australia and South Africa[8]

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[17] Platinum 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[18] Gold 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References
  1. The Best That I Could Do 1978–1988 (CD liner). John Mellencamp. US: Mercury Records. 1997. p. 9. 314 536 738-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. April 24, 1982. p. 10. Retrieved July 7, 2022.
  3. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 418.
  4. White, Timothy (1997). "Who's to Say the Way a Man Should Spend His Days: The First Two Hundred Years of the John Mellencamp Story". The Best That I Could Do 1978–1988 (CD liner). John Mellencamp. US: Mercury Records. p. 6. 314 536 738-2.
  5. Mellencamp, John (January 1, 2005). "John Mellencamp". American Songwriter (Interview). Interviewed by Paul Zollo.
  6. "The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs". Billboard.com.
  7. "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  8. "Acts M". SA Charts 1965–1989. Springbok Radio/Radio Orion. Retrieved May 15, 2015 – via rock.co.za.
  9. Hung, Steffen. "John Cougar - Hurts So Good". charts.nz. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
  10. Whitburn, Joel (June 1991). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990. ISBN 0-89820-089-X.
  11. "Top 100 Singles". Cash Box. July 24, 1982 – via tropicalglen.com.
  12. "National Top 100 Singles for 1982". Kent Music Report. January 3, 1983. Retrieved January 22, 2023 – via Imgur.
  13. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W., Australia: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  14. "Top 100 Hits of 1982/Top 100 Songs of 1982". musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved September 18, 2019.
  15. "Year-End Charts: Top 100 Pop Singles". Cash Box. December 25, 1982. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved January 17, 2019 – via tropicalglen.com.
  16. "Billboard Hot 100 60th Anniversary Interactive Chart". Billboard. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  17. "Canadian single certifications – John Cougar Mellancamp – Hurts So Good". Music Canada. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  18. "American single certifications – John Mellencamp – Hurts So Good". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
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