Last weekend I read
an article about John Mellencamp, whom I affectionately remember as "The Coug". It was concerning his new CD, the use of his song "Our Country" in a Chevy commercial and the state of his career in general. Let's go the article:
"The ubiquitous Chevy Silverado ad, in which Mellencamp’s heartland anthem Our Country plays against a montage of scenes depicting U.S. glories and shames, sparked an immediate controversy when it came out in October. Many questioned the appropriateness of including a picture of civil rights icon Rosa Parks and scenes from Hurricane Katrina among the emotion-laden images, in part selected by Mellencamp himself.
But the roots rocker is unapologetic about breaking a longstanding vow to never sell his songs, suggesting it was the only way to promote his first new album in more than five years, Freedom’s Road, and regain the radio attention that has eluded him in recent years. The album was due in stores Tuesday.
'That’s what it takes to get a song to last forever,' Mellencamp says with a tone that hints he’s recited the argument several times over.'I’m not for people selling their songs. I don’t suggest it for anybody else. It’s something that I decided to do. I don’t think music was made to sell products and I’ve never done it before but for me personally, I wanted the song to be heard, I wanted the song to get into the consciousness of people’s lives and there was only one way to do it.'" Hmmmm, so let me get this straight: he's not for selling songs (although he has made millions selling CDs) and he doesn't recommend it to others and he has a longstanding vow not to do it and he doesn't think music should be used to sell products. But he's doing it anyway!
Later,
in another article, he talks about his song "Pink Houses".
"In a recent interview from the lakeside home in Bloomington, Indiana, that he shares with his 37-year-old wife and their two boys, an eerily calm Mellencamp recalled that his 1983 hit Pink Houses was 'the biggest slam on America that you could ever write.' But people never dug deeper than the catchy chorus line, 'Ain't that America, home of the free,' and interpreted the song as a patriotic ditty." Just out of curiosity, I looked up the
lyrics just to make sure I wasn't forgetting something. That's "the biggest slam on America that you could ever write"? Billy Bragg, he ain't. Sounds pretty mild to me and it doesn't come across as much of a slam at all.
Lastly he talks about the idea of turning another one of his mega-hits into a movie. Take it away Coug!
"As for the fate of those two American kids growing up in the heartland, Mellencamp sneers at the suggestion of turning Jack and Diane into a script, but he’s not willing to close the door entirely.
'I don’t want to say never, never, never, never. If somebody came to me with an idea that was as good as The Last Picture Show I’d sure think about it,' he says in a slight southern drawl, referring to the Oscar-winning 1971 coming-of-age film. Mellencamp once made his own
movie. I recently tried watching it and, well, let's just say it's not as good as "The Last Picture Show".
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