John Mellencamp - Pink Houses Chords

Pink Houses
John Mellencamp


The song “Pink Houses” by John “Cougar” Mellencamp was written in 1983, reached No. 8 on
Billboard charts, and remains a rock radio staple to this day. It is recommended for
to intermediate guitar players. The song only uses a few basic chords, and has a pretty 
main riff, based off of the G and Cadd9 chords.

RIFF:
                            G           Cadd9  G
E||-----||-----------3------3--3--3--|--3------3------------|
B||-----||-----------3------3--3--3--|--3------3------------|
G||-----||*-------0--0------0--0--0--|--0------0------------|
D||-----||*----------0------0--0--0--|--2------0------------|
A||-----||---0h2-----2------2--2--2--|--3------2------------|
E||--3--||-----------3------3--3--3--|---------3--------3---|

               G              Cadd9  G
----------3----3--3--3--3--|--3------3-------------||
----------3----3--3--3--3--|--3------3-------------||
-------0--0----0--0--0--0--|--0------0------------*||
----------0----0--0--0--0--|--2------0------------*||
--0h2-----2----2--2--2--2--|--3------2-------------||
----------3----3--3--3--3--|---------3--------3----||

CHORDS:

Intro:

RIFF

Verse 1:
          G
There’s a black man with a black cat

Living in a black neighbourhood

He’s got an interstate runnin’ through his front yard
            F         C         G
You know he thinks he’s got in so good

And there’s a woman in the kitchen

Cleanin’ up the evening slop
					  C
And he looks at her and says “hey darling
		              G
I can remember when you could stop a clock”

Chorus:
             C                    G
Oh but ain’t that America for you and me
                G                G
Ain’t that America, something to see, baby
                C               D
Ain’t that America, home of the free, yeah
                       C
Little pink houses for you and me

Oh, for you and me

RIFF X2

Verse 2:
               G
Well there’s a young man in a T-shirt

Listening to a rock ‘n’ roll station

He’s got greasy hair, greasy smile
          F            C          G
He says, “Lord this must be my destination

Cause they told me when I was younger

Said, ‘Boy, you’re gonna be president’
              F                        C
But just like everything else, those old crazy dreams
                    G
Just kinda came and went”

Chorus:
             C                    G
Oh but ain’t that America for you and me
                G                G
Ain’t that America, something to see, baby
                C               D
Ain’t that America, home of the free, yeah
                       C
Little pink houses for you and me

Oh, for you and me

RIFF X4

Bridge:
F C G (Play 4 times)

Verse 3:
             G
Well there’s people and more people

What do they know, know, know

Go to work in some high-rise
    F                  C       G
And vacation down at the Gulf of Mexico, oh yeah

And there’s winners, and there’s losers

But they ain’t no big deal,
          F                      C
Cause the simple man baby pays for thrills
                  G
The bills and the pills that kill

Chorus:
             C                    G
Oh but ain’t that America for you and me
                G                G
Ain’t that America, something to see, baby
                C               D
Ain’t that America, home of the free, yeah
                       C
Little pink houses for you and me

Oh, for you and me
             C                    G
Oh but ain’t that America for you and me
                G                G
Ain’t that America, something to see, baby
                C               D
Ain’t that America, home of the free, yeah
                       C
Little pink houses for you and me

Oh, for you and me

RIFF X4