# Mellencamp: Cherry Bomb: That's When a Spoke Was a Smoke, errr, Sport? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 12, 2009, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801 "2009-04-12T02:56:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/41 "2009-04-13T02:07:08Z")
No contribution towards resolving the question, but this may be my one chance to fess up that when I first heard that tune, lo those many years ago, my ears Mondegreened that line into _“That’s when the spokesmen spoke”_ which of course left me utterly baffled for a couple of months. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/42 "2009-04-13T02:14:12Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > ((We are not worthy)) > ((We are not worthy)) Hah, when the only name you can drop is John Mellencamp (who most people still think is called “John Cougar Mellencamp”) you’re not some kind of big shot or anything, just a resident of Bloomington, IN. He’s a part of the “local color” here - his yellow Viper can be seen driving around during the summer and he shows up at restaurants and stuff with his wife and kids a lot. His sons are named “Hud” and “Speck.” ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/43 "2009-04-13T02:26:34Z")
Oh My Og!!!🙂 That’s _terrific_, I hope he lets you know or signs in here instead (even better). I kid about his earlier name, but have great respect for his efforts on behalf of Farm-Aid, and loved **Scarecrow**! You know? This whole thread put me in thought about that old saw: “A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a _smoke_”. I don’t think the guy who said that “got any” _that_ night, do y’all? Not unless his SO smoked cigars, I mean! Oh, and PS:“There’s a bathroom on the right!”, **JRD** 😉 (Mis-heard Creedence lyric)😉 Quasi ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/44 "2009-04-13T02:58:41Z")
“A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke” – R. Kipling. (And no, I never kippled.) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/45 "2009-04-13T07:31:36Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Uh, you’re just cottoning on to the fact the Bruce Cougar Mellensteen is a poseur retard? > > Very near the top of my list of most violently overrated “artists” of all time. When I’m dictator, all traces of him will be expunged from the planet. He’s up there with Phil Collins and Stevie Nicks for me as far as total wastes of carbon. Hey, **lissener** , I’d like to invite you to hear me sing along to karaoke music sometime. I have 17 John Mellencamp karaoke tracks, yes, including “Cherry Bomb.” ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/46 "2009-04-13T08:32:13Z")
**Cochrane**? Got anything on YouTube? Just sayin’ that if you’ve got THAT much Mellencamp, then you must be **awesome** doing’ the K thang!🙂 Bill ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/47 "2009-04-13T11:53:13Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > **Cochrane**? > > Got anything on YouTube? > > Just sayin’ that if you’ve got THAT much Mellencamp, then you must be **awesome** doing’ the K thang!🙂 > > Bill No, **Q** , I don’t have a video camera, so haven’t bothered with the YouTube thing. I’ve tried making some audio recordings of myself, but I’m my own harshest critic. I just sing for my own entertainment, and because I think singing helps keep my mind sharp. I live alone except for two dogs, and they’re either tone deaf or gracious enough not to howl when I sing. Besides, “Cherry Bomb” isn’t the one I sound best on, although I don’t think I sound half bad singing “Check It Out” or “Our Country.” Besides, I wanted to needle **lissener** about his “poseur” crack. Anyone who knows the slightest thing about Mellencamp knows how much he hated the “Cougar” monicker and how much he rebelled against his first manager’s trying to package him into another David Bowie. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/48 "2009-04-13T12:43:21Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > When in doubt, I always go with the lyric sheet included with the album, if there is one. The lyric sheet that comes with the album “The Lonesome Jubilee” says, “That’s when a sport was a sport.” > > I take it to mean “real” sports such as football, basketball, or baseball, as opposed to extreme “sports” created for ESPN or MTV or any of the various cable entertainment networks. Not a bad theory, but none of those extreme sports even really existed in 1987. This is all very interesting, as I never knew there was any controversy about the lyrics to this song. I just always assumed it was smoke. ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/49 "2009-04-13T12:53:00Z")
Until this thread, I had no idea anyone thought it was smoke. Even though he pronounces sport with (this is my non-linguist guess) a glottal t at the end, there’s a definate ‘sp’ at the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/50 "2009-04-13T13:25:45Z")
FTR, I always thought it was “smoke.” If anyone’s counting votes… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/51 "2009-04-13T13:44:42Z")
Count me as another who would not have believed it was anything other than “smoke”( especially not _sport_) if I hadn’t just seen it with my own eyes on that video. Also, Mr. Mellencamp must have graduated from the Rick Astley school of dance. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/52 "2009-04-13T15:50:59Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Count me as another who would not have believed it was anything other than “smoke”( especially not _sport_) if I hadn’t just seen it with my own eyes on that video. This is seriously shaking the foundations of my reality construct. Damn. And as has been said, that line was the best lyric in the song. It could be interpreted several ways and they were all interesting. I wouldn’t describe Mellencamp as a waste of carbon. He’s probably more famous than his talent warrants, but seems like a decent guy. _(When the Walls Come) Tumbling Down_, _Cherry Bomb,_ and the big breakthrough (although bigger for Pat Benatar)… _I Need a Lover Who Won’t Drive Me Crazy._ I’ll listen to those anytime they’re played on the radio. Oh, and the interpretation involving Smokey Robinson was interesting to read, even if it didn’t hold up… unlike “sport” which holds up but isn’t interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/53 "2009-04-13T16:07:11Z")
I can see “that’s when a sport was a sport”. A lot of other people have complained about the commercialization of modern professional sports and are nostalgic for what they believe were the purer sports of their youth when athletes played “for the love of the game”. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/54 "2009-04-13T16:17:38Z")
What’s going on here? No one rewords the bible to say what they want it to say. The line is, as quoted on the original album. God and JC and the rest of you can change the lyric when you are in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/55 "2009-04-13T17:46:07Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Not a bad theory, but none of those extreme sports even really existed in 1987. > > This is all very interesting, as I never knew there was any controversy about the lyrics to this song. I just always assumed it was smoke. For the record, I still believe it’s “sport,” but I now agree with **Chefguy’s** explanation in post #25. > [@Chefguy](#): > > Back in the day, a “sport” was someone who dressed in a flashy manner, played the ladies, and had money in his pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/56 "2009-04-14T01:20:59Z")
I got a reply from one of John’s acquaintances via his website: > [@](#): > > The line is definitely Sport was a Sport. I have been around John quite a bit and that is his country style of pronouncing T’s, it does sound more like spote, but there is definitely a P in there. I just went and listened to 8 various versions live and in studio sessions and they all sound the same, be it in 1987 or 2005 (last time the song was played). > > John has never commented in interviews on what those line really mean or refer to. If you want some opinions you could join/post to the [ClubCherryBomb.net](http://ClubCherryBomb.net) message board and the Human-Wheels YahooGroup which is where most of John’s fans gather. > > Thanks > Tony I might just do that. In the mean time I’m going to reply to Tony with a couple-o-questions. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/57 "2009-04-14T03:25:36Z")
Mellencamp is easily one of the most confusing singers in mainstream pop music. Half of the words in _Key West Intermezzo_ are unintelligible; _I Fight Authority_ is also extremely difficult to understand. I don’t think this is a bad thing; it’s just his style and his accent. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/58 "2009-04-14T03:55:26Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I got a reply from one of John’s acquaintances via his website: > > I might just do that. In the mean time I’m going to reply to Tony with a couple-o-questions. It was nice of him to respond. Please pass along our thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/59 "2009-04-14T05:32:51Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Uh, you’re just cottoning on to the fact the Bruce Cougar Mellensteen is a poseur retard? > > Very near the top of my list of most violently overrated “artists” of all time. When I’m dictator, all traces of him will be expunged from the planet. He’s up there with Phil Collins and Stevie Nicks for me as far as total wastes of carbon. I have to say that I felt the exact same way back in 1987, but the staying power of the tracks and especially the ditty 'bout Jack and Diane have made me come around. Other artists I have learned to appreciate since my teens include Elvis and Frank Sinatra. Fuck me was I smrt in high school! ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2009, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/60 "2009-04-14T05:37:00Z")
I thought it was a “spoke was a spoke,” but I have no idea what that could possibly mean. Ignorance fought. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801.md?page=4)