Songfacts®:

• The Scarecrow album saw Mellencamp move to a more political direction in his songwriting, as he gave voice to American farmers, expressing their burdens in songs like "Rain On The Scarecrow" and "You've Got to Stand for Somethin'." "Lonely Ol' Night" was more typical of his earlier work, a romantic story set against a musical backdrop. Lyrically, it's not far off from his 1980 track "Ain't Even Done With The Night."
• The title and hook were lifted from dialogue in the 1963 movie Hud. When Brandon De Wilde's character asks, "It's a Lonesome old night, isn't it?" Paul Newman replies, "Ain't they all?"
  
  Mellencamp borrowed from the movie again in his 1987 track "Paper in Fire" with the line, "We keep no check on our appetites."
• The lyrics, "He's singing about standing in the shadows of love, I guess he feels awfully alone" refer to the song "Standing In The Shadows Of Love," which was a #6 hit for the Four Tops in 1967. "Lonely Ol' Night" reached the same plateau. >>

  Suggestion credit:
  Kent - Pittsfield, IL
• Mellencamp often changes the arrangement of "Lonely Ol' Night" when he performs it live, usually slowing it down to bring out the longing in the lyric. He did a solo acoustic version in 2007 when he performed for wounded troops at Walter Reed Medical Center.