# 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:** 12\ **Page:** 4
**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, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/61 "2009-04-14T07:20:21Z")
> [@Quint](#): > > 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. I’ve never thought he was a ‘waste of carbon’, but I regarded him pretty much as just another pop star (albeit a rather rural one) until _Lonesome Jubilee_. That was the album (plus the band that he had assembled and the sound he had coaxed out of it’s members) that made me sit up and take notice, and I’ve thought highly of him ever since. As far as _Cherry Bomb_ goes, it does a wonderful job of evoking the images and feelings and memories that someone around our age (I’m around three years older) experienced as we entered our mid-to-late thirties and looked back on life as it was in the fifties and early sixties and upon our experiences as teenagers during that time. It’s probably the most moving song in that regard that I know of and not just any old tool could craft it. The guy has significant talent. As an aside, I remember having something of a mini-crush on Lisa Germano (the fiddle player) during that period. She seemed so tiny and shy and out of place while at the same time so soulful and authoritative and talented in her playing that I couldn’t take my eyes off her during those short snippets that actually showed her in action. I just finished watching _Paper In Fire_ on Mellencamp’s site and she really smokes (sports? ;)) in that one too. If anybody’s interested, it can be found [here](http://www.mellencamp.com/index.php?module=media&media_id=31). The cute banjo player, IIRC, is Crystal Taliefero, the same woman who sang the soulful backing vocal on _Cherry Bomb_. ---
**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 15, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/62 "2009-04-15T00:09:09Z")
Lonesome Jubilee is easily John’s magnum opus. ---
**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 15, 2009, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/63 "2009-04-15T00:20:35Z")
Agreed. And now that you’ve got me on a John Mellencamp kick I just discovered another mondegreen. In the song _Paper in Fire_ I thought the line was “There’s a good life, right across in Stringfield (or maybe Springfield)”, but I couldn’t quite decipher what happened in or to Stringfield after that. So I Gooled and watched the video on his website to find out and discovered that the line is actually “There’s a good life right across the green field”. What a schmuck am I! :smack: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/64 "2009-04-15T00:26:15Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Also, Mr. Mellencamp must have graduated from the Rick Astley school of dance. Haha, good call! I have a lot of respect for Mr. Mellencamp, he’s a fine songwriter and sounds like a hell of a guy but his dancing ain’t none too good 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/65 "2009-04-15T00:50:26Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > No one rewords the bible to say what they want it to say. I think you meant to write, “ **Everyone** rewords the bible to say what they want it to say.” ---
**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 15, 2009, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/66 "2009-04-15T00:53:56Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Also, Mr. Mellencamp must have graduated from the Rick Astley school of dance. > [@HongKongFooey](#): > > Haha, good call! I have a lot of respect for Mr. Mellencamp, he’s a fine songwriter and sounds like a hell of a guy but his dancing ain’t none too good 😛 Especially since he appears to be in denial in the song “Crumblin’ Down.” \* But I know I’m a real good dancer Don’t need to look over my shoulder To see what I’m after\* ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/67 "2009-04-15T01:09:55Z")
Holy cow. I was another who heard “smoke”. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![superlazy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@superlazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superlazy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/68 "2010-09-01T00:04:57Z")
On all of the lyric websites I only found “sport was a sport”. In one verse he’s talking about getting his ass beaten for running his mouth, but when he sees those people today, they can laugh about it. Maybe he doesn’t mean ‘sport’ in the football/basketball sense, but rather a person who responds well to teasing, defeat, or a similarly trying situation; rather than all the cry babies around today. Amazing, this thread has been alive for 10 years now! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/69 "2010-09-01T03:51:47Z")
Where’s it been living the other nine years? 😕 It makes some sense that a “sport was a sport” means being a good sport. ---
**Author:** ![1iopen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/f05b48/32.png) [@1iopen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1iopen)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/70 "2012-08-04T02:51:34Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I always heard it as “that’s when a spoke was a spoke.” But it made no sense to me: maybe some mid-western euphemism? > > So, I see on some search pages “Thats when sport was a sport.” What the hell is that? > > I have also heard “that’s when a smoke was a smoke,” profound, isn’t it? > > BTW I love the song… this one line has always been elusive. What is it? What Indianian concept do I fail to grasp? > > Cheers. that’s when a spoke was a spoke is right , they are referring to a real spoke wheel back then and now spoke wheels are fake hubcaps ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/71 "2012-08-04T03:08:48Z")
I always heard it as That’s when a smoke was a smoke and never even though it might be something else. As Argent mentioned (a loong time ago), it’s pretty well known that’s he a very heavy smoker, so in my mind he was just thinking back to his younger days, back when smoking was just a normal thing to do, not something that came with a guilt trip or a lecture or an illness. It’s just what people did. ---
**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:** [August 4, 2012, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801/72 "2012-08-04T06:32:51Z")
> [@1iopen](#): > > that’s when a spoke was a spoke is right , they are referring to a real spoke wheel back then and now spoke wheels are fake hubcaps Despite confirmation from a source close to Mellencamp that says it’s “sport” > [@Leaffan](#): > > 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. And a very good interpretation of the meaning by **Superlazy** > [@superlazy](#): > > On all of the lyric websites I only found “sport was a sport”. > > In one verse he’s talking about getting his ass beaten for running his mouth, but when he sees those people today, they can laugh about it. > > Maybe he doesn’t mean ‘sport’ in the football/basketball sense, but rather a person who responds well to teasing, defeat, or a similarly trying situation; rather than all the cry babies around today. You believe the word is “spoke”? :dubious: Did you read the thread? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mellencamp-cherry-bomb-thats-when-a-spoke-was-a-smoke-errr-sport/492801.md?page=3)