Released: July 15, 2008
Songwriter: John Mellencamp
Producer: T Bone Burnett
Well, the county fair left quite a mess
In the county yard
Kids with eyes as big as dollars
Rode all the rides
Strip artists and con artists
Put on quite a show
And made some money
Then left town
Where they went, I don’t know
"Hey, all you suckers,"
I heard a fat woman say
"Come on in for fifty cents
You can stay in here all day"
So I took a chance
I went inside
Wasn’t much there to see
So I asked her for my money back
And she just smiled at me
Saw Princess Tonika takin' off all her clothes
Rode some rides and played some games
Saw the Wild Man from Barneo
There was a black man playing the blues
Talked to some friends I hadn’t seen in a while
Threw a football through a hoop
Well, I saw them loading up their trucks
Taking down the rides
Folding up all the tents
There’s a full moon in the sky
Some were laughing, some were cussing
As they worked
Saw one of them making love
To a local girl
I was minding my own business
It was quarter after two
When a fella walked up and said
"Hey, man
I remember you"
And then he shoved me
And pulled out his knife
Stuck me three times in the chest
And I died that night
For the life of me I can’t remember
Who he was
And why he’d put a knife in me
In that dusty parking lot
Everybody said
What a shame it was
"But he knew better than staying out
Past twelve o’clock"
Some people put no value
On a human life
And there are places we all go
That just ain’t safe at night
If somebody'd do this to me
They might do it to you
So be careful where you go
And what you say or do
Well, the county fair left quite a mess
In the county yard
In the county yard
Kids with eyes as big as dollars
Rode all the rides
Strip artists and con artists
Put on quite a show
And made some money
Then left town
Where they went, I don’t know
"Hey, all you suckers,"
I heard a fat woman say
"Come on in for fifty cents
You can stay in here all day"
So I took a chance
I went inside
Wasn’t much there to see
So I asked her for my money back
And she just smiled at me
Saw Princess Tonika takin' off all her clothes
Rode some rides and played some games
Saw the Wild Man from Barneo
There was a black man playing the blues
Talked to some friends I hadn’t seen in a while
Threw a football through a hoop
Well, I saw them loading up their trucks
Taking down the rides
Folding up all the tents
There’s a full moon in the sky
Some were laughing, some were cussing
As they worked
Saw one of them making love
To a local girl
I was minding my own business
It was quarter after two
When a fella walked up and said
"Hey, man
I remember you"
And then he shoved me
And pulled out his knife
Stuck me three times in the chest
And I died that night
For the life of me I can’t remember
Who he was
And why he’d put a knife in me
In that dusty parking lot
Everybody said
What a shame it was
"But he knew better than staying out
Past twelve o’clock"
Some people put no value
On a human life
And there are places we all go
That just ain’t safe at night
If somebody'd do this to me
They might do it to you
So be careful where you go
And what you say or do
Well, the county fair left quite a mess
In the county yard
more tracks from the album
On the Rural Route 7609
- The Real Life
- Your Life Is Now
- Don’t Need This Body
- Sweet Evening Breeze
- The Full Catastrophe
- My Aeroplane
- Troubled Land
- Someday the Rains Will Fall
- Theo and Weird Henry
- Women Seem
- Between a Laugh and a Tear
- If I Die Sudden
- Peaceful World
- To Washington
- Colored Lights
- The World Don’t Bother Me None
- Jack and Diane (Writing Demo)
- Jenny at 16
- Rain on the Scarecrow
- Jim Crow
- Big Daddy of Them All
- What If I Came Knocking
- Longest Days
- Sugar Marie
- Mr. Bellows
- Deep Blue Heart
- Love and Happiness
- Someday
- Forgiveness
- To M.G. (Wherever She May Be)
- For the Children
- Freedom’s Road
- Our Country (Alternative Version)
- Jim Crow
- Thank You
- Ghost Towns Along the Highway
- Jackie Brown
- Cherry Bomb
- Jack & Diane
- L.U.V.
- County Fair
- When Jesus Left Birmingham
- Country Gentleman
- Rural Route
- Void in My Heart
- Just Like You
- Rodeo Clown
- A Ride Back Home
- Authority Song
- Grandma’s Theme
- Death Letter
- Young Without Lovers
- Pink Houses
From the albums
- Life, Death, Love and Freedom (2008)
- On the Rural Route 7609 (2010)
John Mellencamp popular songs
- Jack & Diane
- Pink Houses
- Hurts So Good
- Small Town
- Check It Out
- Authority Song
- Rain on the Scarecrow
- I Need a Lover
- Cherry Bomb
- For the Children
- Farewell Angelina
- R. Gang
- To M.G. (Wherever She May Be)
- Worn Out Nervous Condition
- Yours Forever
- No One Cares About Me
- Forgiveness
- L.U.V.
- This May Not Be the End of the World
- County Fair
- Goodnight
- Young Without Lovers
- Another Sunny Day 12/25
- Serious Business