Big Daddy is the tenth studio album by American singer-songwriter John Cougar Mellencamp, released in 1989 by Mercury Records.

"Void in My Heart" is reflective song regarding Mellencamp's position as an acclaimed singer and as one who has worked hard to make it but still he confesses: "There's a void in my heart I can't seem to fill," which is a reference to the turmoil of Mellencamp's personal life at the time, as he was going through a divorce from his second wife Vicki when he was writing songs for this album.

"Big Daddy of Them All" is the account of a parental authority figure whose selfish womanizing ways have led to his downfall, and it is an autobiographical song about Mellencamp himself.

The "Big Daddy" name was derived from a character in the old Tennessee Williams play Cat On a Hot Tin Roof—one of Mellencamp's favorite plays/movies.

The album takes a less serious tone on two tracks, the first of which titled "Martha Say"—an account of a stubbornly independent woman whose ways lead Mellencamp to caution her to "look out."