Varying Sentence Pattern Analysis

John Cougar Mellencamp
"Jack and Diane"

John Cougar Mellencamp is not only known for his rock and roll music but also as a remarkable song writer as well. He is a Grammy-winning American rock singer-songwriter. He also won the Classic Songwriter Award in 2008 at the London Q Awards. His lyrics contain familiar scenarios that people can relate to. In fact, when Billy Joel inducted Mellencamp into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame he told him, "[People] need to know that somewhere out there somebody feels the way that they do, in the small towns and in the big cities." (Mar 10, 2008) Aside from the meaning and poetic devices that are present in the actual lyrics of his songs, Mellencamp's songs also contain varying sentence structures. His use of various sentence patterns spice up the flow of his lyrics and make the song that much more enjoyable to listen to. His use of various sentence patterns is well demonstrated in his well-known song about young love, Jack and Diane.

The song Jack and Diane is about "two American kids growin' up in the heartland" (2). They are just two teenagers in love, with their whole lives ahead of them and the world at their fingertips. When Mellencamp sings, "Jackie gonna be a football star; Diane, debutante backseat of Jackie's car," he is using a compound sentence with elliptical construction to show that, at their young age, they think they are invincible. They've already begun planning their futures and nothing and no one can stop them. The next two lines (5-6) are an example of a gerund phrase. When he says "Suckin' on chili dogs outside the Tastee Freeze, Diane's sittin' on Jackie's lap", Mellencamp creates the feeling that these two young lovers live life without a care in the world, they do whatever they want whenever they want. Then Jackie starts getting reasonable about the rest of their lives. He knows that life won't always be as easy and carefree: "Oh yeah say life goes on, long after the thrill of livin is gone" (12-13). He says that they must love their life while they're still young and carefree because once they grow up, that luxury will no longer be an option. Jackie's thoughts are perfectly illustrated in lines 25-27: "Hold on to sixteen as long as you can. Changes come around real soon, make us women and men." He knows that once you grow up, have a job, and start a family, life won't be as new and exciting anymore; it will be dull and boring. The very last line of the song, lines 28-29, is the final example of varying sentence patterns. Mellencamp sings, "Little ditty about Jack and Diane, two American kids doin' the best they can." This is an appositive sentence because after stating who the "ditty" is about, Mellencamp then briefly describes them, "two American kids doin' the best they can", to give the listener an idea of who they are.

In the song, Mellencamp describes a relationship of young love. The characters that he is singing about are more mature than they appear. In the beginning of the song, Jack and Diane seem like naive lovers, innocent to life and how it changes people. Then, further into the song, Jackie reveals his true wisdom and tells Diane that they should have fun while they're still young because the older you get, the more the thrill of life fades away into nothing. This is wise, yet unexpected, of young Jackie to say because usually people realize all too late the life is too short to be miserable. Jackie realized this and accepted it while they still have plenty of time to enjoy their life and each other.