"Lonely Ol' Night" is a rock song written and performed by singer-songwriter John Mellencamp.

[3] The title of "Lonely Ol' Night" was inspired by a scene in the 1963 film Hud starring Paul Newman, based on the 1961 novel Horseman, Pass By by Larry McMurtry.

John Cougar Mellencamp had seen the film many times as a young man, and its portrayal of Newman's character Hud Bannon's strained relationship with his father Homer Bannon (Melvyn Douglas) affected Mellencamp deeply, inspiring many of his song ideas.

[4]: 73 The recording of "Lonely Ol' Night" occurred on April 9, 1985, according to the Scarecrow liner notes.

[3] Cash Box called it "a chugging track which portrays love as the all important link of life.