Is John Cougar Mellencamp ironic? Seriously, what gives?

Sure it is. Irony is an “incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs.” The stuff msmith mentioned is exactly that. Enjoying something ironically means to enjoy something a person like you typically wouldn’t be thought to enjoy.

Personally I think it’s a bit of bullshit dreamt up by an elitist when his friends caught him listening to Backstreet Boys or watching a Will Ferrell movie or whatever, but it caught on pretty strongly.

Don’t blame me because your high school English teacher is ign’ant.

On a related note, didn’t the GOP get into hot water years ago for using Pink Houses on the campaign trail. As I recall Mellencamp was pretty pissed about it.

Completely untrue. Well, at least it was untrue when I saw him 20ish years ago during the Lonesome Jubilee tour. I hadn’t though much of him until that live performance. It was a very good show.

Your autocomplete turned “KISS” into something else, there.

Try “wry.”