This week’s Back to Basics was about emergency preparedness on the farm, so it made sense that the Song of the Week is a mid-’80s roots rocker from John Mellencamp, “Rain on the Scarecrow.”
Mellencamp (going by John Cougar Mellencamp) released the album Scarecrow in July 1985. It was his eighth album, coming off a string of hits including “Pink Houses,” “The Authority Song,” “Jack & Diane” and “Hurts So Good.” Scarecrow was a big success, reaching #2 on the Billboard album chart and scoring five top 40 singles, including “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.,” “Lonely Ol’ Night” and “Small Town.”
But with “Rain on the Scarecrow,” Mellencamp tackled the weightier issue of America’s struggling family farms. It’s an angry song and it rocks furiously even as it longs for better days. The song reached #21 on the Billboard Top 40.
Not long after the album’s release, Mellencamp teamed up with Willie Nelson and Neil Young to organize the first Farm Aid benefit concert in September 1985 in Champaign, Illinois. Farm Aid has remained an annual event and has raised nearly $80 million for family farms as of 2024.