Hey John, I have a real question about your lyrics...Scarecrow...

[earlvgillespie]

Hi...was the phrase from 'Rain On The Scarecrow','callin' it your job ol' boss, sure don't make it right', based on a line from the movie 'Cool Hand Luke'? Please reply...earl...

[cwspence]

Yes, I'm sure that lyric is a reference to the line in the movie.  I'm only basing this on what I've read over the years - that John is a big Paul Newman fan (even naming his son Hud).  There are several other lines from Paul Newman movies that are referenced in Mellencamp's songs ("earth-shakin' " in Theo and Weird Henry as an example).

[mellenheadinohio]

also from "Hud":  it's a lonely ol' night, but ain't they all

there are others too, i just remember that one off hand

[mellenq]

JM's songs are full of lines from the movie Hud.  Some I can think of off the top of my head are:

claimed he could hear the grass grow.

but we keep no check on our appetites

how about some beads and wampum? whatever it takes to make you trade

wish you wouldn't make me hang around on the porch, makes me feel like I'm selling somethang.

 

[taz7676]

I think it's "It's a lonesome ol night but ain't they all" from "Hud"
"Handing out verse and scripture like you wrote it down yourself" is another...
The song "Sometimes a Great Notion" is the title of a Paul Newman movie..
and of course "Big Daddy" from "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"