Contemporary Issues in Rhetoric:  Visions of the American Dream in John Cougar Mellencamp’s “Pink Houses”

Jill Dahlman, English

The music of the 1980s can be best described as transitional as the industry began searching for a new sound.  Among the newcomers was John Cougar Mellencamp, an artist who not only redefined himself through the changing of his name, but also redefined music for the 1980s.  In this presentation, I will demonstrate that through the rhetoric of repetition, particularly in Mellencamp’s song “Pink Houses,” Mellencamp’s repetition of disillusionment becomes almost subliminal as he seeks to draw attention to the problems with the American Dream as he sees them.  Bruch and Marback have long advocated the presence of an individual’s right to their own rhetoric within the composition forum.  This can easily be translated to Mellencamp’s rhetoric within his own music.  Like any musician, Mellencamp seeks to appeal to his audience.  However, embedded within the snappy beat of much of his music is a social commentary on American life.  Mellencamp’s disillusionment with the American Dream as it has been represented through the years compared with how it has been experienced by Mellencamp is particularly poignant in his song, “Pink Houses.”