You can't trust 'em
You can't love em
No good deed goes unpunished
And I don't mind being their whipping boy
I've had that pleasure
For years and years
No, no I never was a sinner
Tell me what else can I do
Second best is what you get
'Til you learn to bend the rules
Time respects no person
And when you lift up must fall
They're waiting outside
To claim my crumblin' walls
Saw my picture in the paper
Read the news around my face
And now some people
Don't want to treat me the same
When the walls
Come tumblin' down
When the walls
Come crumblin', crumblin'
When the walls
Come tumblin', tumblin'
Down
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Some people say I'm obnoxious and lazy
That I'm uneducated
And my opinipn means nothin'
But I know I'm a real good dancer
Don't need to look over my shoulder
To see what I'm after
Everybody's got their problems
Ain't no new news here
I'm the same old trouble
You've been having for years
Don't confuse the problem
With the issue, girl
It's perfectly clear
Just a human desire
To have you come near
Want to put my arms around you
Feel your breath in my ear
You can bend me
You can break me
But you better stand clear
When the walls
Come tumblin' down
When the walls
Come crumblin', crumblin'
When the walls
Come tumblin', tumblin'
Crumblin', tumblin'
Down
When the walls
Come (tumblin' down)
When the walls
Come (rumblin', rumblin')
When the walls
(When the walls)
Come tumblin', tumblin'
Down
Want to put my arms around you
Feel your breath in my ear
You can bend me
You can break me
But you better stand clear
When the walls
Come tumblin' down
When the walls
Come crumblin', crumblin'
When the walls
Come tumblin', tumblin'
Crumblin', tumblin'
When the walls
(When the walls)
Come tumblin' down
When the walls
(When the walls)
Come crumblin', crumblin'
When the walls
Come tumblin', tumblin'
Crumblin', tumblin'
When the walls
(When the walls)
Come tumblin' down
When the walls
Come crumblin', crumblin'
When the walls
Come tumblin', tumblin'
Crumblin', tumblin'
Down
John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, followed by an induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018.
Mellencamp rose to fame in the 1980s while "honing an almost startlingly plainspoken writing style" that, starting in 1982, yielded a string of Top 10 singles, including "Hurts So Good", "Jack & Diane", "Crumblin' Down", "Pink Houses", "Lonely Ol' Night", "Small Town", "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.", "Paper in Fire", and "Cherry Bomb". He has amassed 22 Top 40 hits in the United States. In addition, he holds the record for the most tracks by a solo artist to hit number one on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, with seven. Mellencamp has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards, winning one. He has sold over 30 million albums in the US and over 60 million worldwide. His latest album of original songs, Orpheus Descending, was released in June 2023.
Mellencamp is also one of the founding members of Farm Aid, an organization that began in 1985 with a concert in Champaign, Illinois, to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on their land. Farm Aid concerts have remained an annual event over the past 37 years, and as of 2023 the organization has raised over $60 million.
