Small Town (track)
by John Cougar Mellencamp
Small Town appears on the following album(s) by John Cougar Mellencamp:
- Scarecrow (track #3) (this album) (1985)
Listen & Collect
Complete your collection or upgrade your listening experience.
Listen to Small Town on YouTube
Small Town ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this track. | Show all 60 ratings for this track.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Track ratings | Avg. track rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 04/13/2026 17:44 |  sssvnnn | 76,176 | 68/100 |
| ! | 03/19/2026 22:29 | Exist-en-ciel | 169,320 | 71/100 |
| ! | 01/31/2026 02:54 | mrmcrook | 12,629 | 78/100 |
| ! | 01/28/2026 17:11 | Gedster | 532 | 72/100 |
| ! | 07/20/2025 19:13 | culwin | 22,753 | 75/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some tracks can have several thousand ratings)
This track is rated in the top 2% of all tracks on BestEverAlbums.com. This track has a Bayesian average rating of 84.5/100, a mean average of 85.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 85.9/100. The standard deviation for this track is 10.8.
Small Town favourites
Showing all 4 members who have added this track as a favourite
Small Town comments
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)
A Song about JCM’s experiences growing up in a small town in Indiana. The majority of songs about the US feel like they concentrate on the big cities whereas this song highlights the strong sense of community and shared values that can characterize a small town. JCM writing about his own experiences.
He told Rolling Stone, "I wanted to write a song that said, 'You don't have to live in New York or Los Angeles to live a full life or enjoy your life.' I was never one of those guys that grew up and thought, 'I need to get out of here.' It never dawned on me. I just valued having a family and staying close to friends."
I think that he captured that spirit very well on one of my favourite tracks from my favourite JCM album. Great song (Edited)
Romanelli 05/23/2013 20:00 | #76967
It's a hit! The exact formula for a middle American cornfed hit single.
Your feedback for Small Town
