I think it relates to old cigarette advertising but I don’t know what brand used that line.Man, I’ve heard of mondegreens before, but you are waaaay off.“Cherry Bomb” is a nostalgic song, in which John Mellencamp is reminiscing about his teen years, back in the Sixties, when he and his friends used to hang out at a club called the Cherry Bomb and listen to the latest new tunes.The line goes, “That’s when Smokey was smoking, and ‘Groovin’ " was groovin.”Smokey is Smokey Robinson, Mellencap’s favorite soul singer of the Sixties.And "Groovin’ " was a smash hit for the Young Rascals, who were Mellencamp’s favorite rock band in the Sixties.One interesting bit of trivia from the video of this song:Sunday, October 7th is John Mellencamp's 56th birthday. “That’s when a smoke was a smoke” always made and still makes perfect sense to me. I know I said earlier that the video led me to believe it really was ‘sport’ but frankly, had I not already read that the lyric sheets all showed it to be sport I may well not have heard it that way. I don't get it but I love the song.

from album: In addition, he holds the record for the most tracks by a solo artist to hit number-one on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, with seven, and has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards, winning one. Her fiddle is probably 40% of the reason I like that song so much.The line goes, “That’s when Smokey was smoking, and ‘Groovin’ " was groovin.”…“A smoke was a smoke”…is how I always “heard” it! And props to Lisa Germano. “That’s when a smoke was a smoke” always made and still makes perfect sense to me.

If his Cherry Bomb days were in the late sixties/early seventies as his ages in the song indicate, dope smoking had been in vogue for anywhere from a couple of years to five or six. "Cherry Bomb" is a nostalgic song, in which John Mellencamp is reminiscing about his teen years, back in the Sixties, when he and his friends used to hang out at a club called the Cherry Bomb and listen to the latest new tunes. The lyric sheet that comes with the album “The Lonesome Jubilee” says, “That’s when a sport was a sport.”I take it to mean “real” sports such as football, basketball, or baseball, as opposed to extreme “sports” created for ESPN or MTV or any of the various cable entertainment networks.That’s really what I always thought it was.

We have the answer. John Mellencamp Fans Also Like: Metallica song meanings Bruce Springsteen song meanings Ed Sheeran song meanings Coldplay song meanings Beatles song meanings Submit Your Interpretation And it could be that among his crowd, ‘sport’ was ‘rackin’ around, chasing girls, drinkin’ beer’, etc., or perhaps it refers to bodybuilding, lugeing, or other activities that were becoming popular then but which many people didn’t regard as true sports.All of this has admittedly been pulled out of thin air, but I suspect the disconnect is simply that he’s using the word in a context familiar to him but not to the rest of us.The lyric sheet does indeed say, “That’s when a sport was a sport”. What Indianian concept do I fail to grasp?The line is “that’s when a smoke was a smoke”. It was released as the second single from Mellencamp's 1987 album entitled The Lonesome Jubilee. "Cherry Bomb" is a nostalgic song that reflects on Mellencamp's teenage years hanging out at the Last Exit Teen Club. Skeeter Hagler
I know I said earlier that the video led me to believe it really was ‘sport’ but frankly, had I not already read that the lyric sheets all showed it to be sport I may well not have heard it that way.

The Runaways – Cherry Bomb 15 Comments 0 Tags Can't stay at home, can't stay at school. He is not saying “when Smokey was smoking”.I think the line is “that’s when sport was sport” but he pronounces it like “spote”.That’s really what I always thought it was. Check It Out Lyrics . In that context it doesn’t sound to me like he was necessarily talking about ‘smoke’ being store-bought cigarettes.

I never knew anyone thought any different.Ditto this. Because of his rebellious personality, John doesn't seem like the type to whom you...The most notable thing about the clip is its depiction of an interracial couple slow dancing together. The lyric sheet that comes with the album “The Lonesome Jubilee” says, “That’s when a sport was a sport.”I take it to mean “real” sports such as football, basketball, or baseball, as opposed to extreme “sports” created for ESPN or MTV or any of the various cable entertainment networks.That’s really what I always thought it was. And props to Lisa Germano. It was released as the second single from Mellencamp's 1987 album entitled The Lonesome Jubilee.

Written by: John Mellencamp / Well I lived on the outskirts of town / In an eight Written by: John Mellencamp Well I lived on the outskirts of town In an eight room But every lyrics page I looked at on Google said the word was ‘sport’, and then in watching the video and listening through headphones, it does look and sound to me like he’s saying sport, but with an odd pronounciation, like spote.This is seriously disappointing, because “smoke” makes a million times more sense than the nonsensical “sport.”This is seriously disappointing, because “smoke” makes a million times more sense than the nonsensical “sport.”I don’t know.

He has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and has amassed 22 Top 40 hits in the United States. "Cherry Bomb" is a song by American rock singer John Mellencamp. In that context it doesn’t sound to me like he was necessarily talking about ‘smoke’ being store-bought cigarettes.

Album Cherry Bomb John Mellencamp.