Lyrics to
Chestnut Street

This version of Chestnut Street was released by John Cougar Mellencamp in 1976.

Our John Cougar Mellencamp Songs profile has Chestnut Street lyrics from 1976 and most if not all of the lyrics by John Cougar Mellencamp that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to John Cougar Mellencamp or about the 1970s in general.

Well I’ve lived and breathed and been disbelieved
In these small town streets too long
I’ve been up with the winners and down with the sinners
And hung on this corner ’til dawn
And my hands they have been tied
To a life I’ve been denied
I’m just a small town boy bein’ used like a toy
And workin’ from nine to five

By the end of the day, all the kids would go play
And I’d come staggering home
With a dream in my hand and a master plan
That wouln’t leave my mind alone
I compromised all my schemes
And flucturated all my dreams
I’m just a small town boy bein’ used like a toy
And nothing is like it really seems

But you must believe that when I walk down the tracks
The young girls fall back and say
There goes that sleek young silhouette
He don’t drive no Corvette
But he stings just like a Sting Ray
And that’s my only redemption in this house of detention
That keeps me from simply blowin’ it all away
‘Cause when I walk down the street in the hot summer heat
I say, God don’t take this away

I keep hopin’ and wishin’ that these romantic positions
Gonna help me hide my pain
And all the hurt that I’ve felt underneath my leather studded belt
Of not finding fortune and fame
But some day I’ll blow ’em away with the things that I may sing and
Might say
I’m just a small town boy bein’ used like a toy
And waitin’ for my pay dirt day

I’m just a small town boy bein’ used like a toy
And waitin’ for my pay day

---

Want more lyrics and songs by John Cougar Mellencamp?

John Cougar Mellencamp has released many songs over the years besides Chestnut Street. John Cougar Mellencamp released songs from 1976 to 2007 spanning across albums like Chestnut Street Incident, A Biography, John Cougar, Nothin' Matters And What If It Did, American Fool, The Kid Inside, Uh-Huh, Scarecrow, The Lonesome Jubilee, Big Daddy, Whenever We Wanted, Human Wheels, Dance Naked, Mr. Happy Go Lucky, John Mellencamp, Rough Harvest, Cuttin' Heads, Trouble No More, and Freedom's Road. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by John Cougar Mellencamp.

If you're a fan of popular 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1976 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Chestnut Street by John Cougar Mellencamp

The lyrics to Chestnut Street are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that John Cougar Mellencamp used when the song was created in 1976. The lyrics to Chestnut Street have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only John Cougar Mellencamp and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to Chestnut Street by John Cougar Mellencamp. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Chestnut Street" means the words set to the music of Chestnut Street, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by John Cougar Mellencamp. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Chestnut Street and the lyrics to Chestnut Street are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of John Cougar Mellencamp who came here looking just for the lyrics to Chestnut Street, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

More Songs & Lyrics by John Cougar Mellencamp

Visit our John Cougar Mellencamp profile for more John Cougar Mellencamp songs, lyrics & info!

)