John Mellencamp - Life, Love, Death, And Freedom

Before you all say i hate him and you know who you are I read back so I know. Yes there was an old thread almost a year old so I started a new one.

Lots don't care for him, I don't care for his earlier material to pop rock for me.

But his last few cds are in way what his first stuff is like at all. On his latest cd "Life, Love, Death, And Freedom" is some of his best work ever and as the title says it is all about that.

So before you even say a thing like oh I don't care for him and say that his new cd isn't that good have you heard it and not 1 song or 2 but the whole dam cd.

To me it is very down home and to heart about life. And if you don't like oh well your loss.

Awesome cd!

Wargod49

I like John Mellencamp, I even like his early material. I feel he is very underrated song writer, who songs deal with truths in an honest everyday language, racisim (Cutting Heads,Walk Tall), farm crisis of the 80's that continues to this day (Rain on The Scarecrow), the spirtiual emptyness of modern man ( Human Wheels), an artist who is not afaird to speak about the big issues, better songwriter than some of the other artist who write in similar vein/genre. Even his so called shallow songs (Hurt so Good) are very human and does capture what it feels like to be young man in search for " a little bit of fun" I could go on but I agree with you, great artist and we need more artist like Mellencamp who do not fear to write about what is on their mind.

I really like his early stuff; I have 'em all but the last several haven't done much for me and when I read that the new one was less rock-oriented, I decided to pass.

But Scarecrow-era Mellancamp still gets spun.

I'm the one that started that old thread and i like his music. I haven't checked out his recent stuff though.

Having lived in Indiana for the better part of 8 years while growing up in Indiana (age 8-16), you were expected to love John Mellencamp. He represented everything that was small town values. The song "Small Town" is embodied by this man. He grew up in Seymour Indiana and resides in Bloomington, Indiana (Indiana University). If he wasn't on tour or in the studio, you could expect to see him taking in a game at Assembly Hall in between the months of November thru March. He's all about his roots.

I have to say I appreciate the guy more today then back in the day (though I did like him). Unfortunately you were just inundated with him on the radio during the 80's, especially that of Q95. I would say my favorite Mellencamp song was "Ain't Even Done With The Night".

I haven't picked up his latest album, but I did enjoy the "Freedom's Road" album, though I got sick of hearing the song "Our Country", which I believe was in those Chevy commercials.

I am huge John Mellencamp and like you Metal I grew to appreciate him more as I got older, thankfully I donot listen to radio and I am sure if I had lived in Indiana I would be sick of him. as I stated earlier I think his songs are honest and he isn't afaird to tackle the big issues in his music. "Aint Even Done with the Night" is a great song, it captures a young man's feelings regarding this girl, his nervousness, and sets a mood, good song. Btw I saw you commented on the Pat Benatar thread, have you ever heard her cover of Mellencamp's "I need a Lover" ? If not you should check it out, I think you will enjoy it.

manny wrote:

I am huge John Mellencamp and like you Metal I grew to appreciate him more as I got older, thankfully I donot listen to radio and I am sure if I had lived in Indiana I would be sick of him. as I stated earlier I think his songs are honest and he isn't afaird to tackle the big issues in his music. "Aint Even Done with the Night" is a great song, it captures a young man's feelings regarding this girl, his nervousness, and sets a mood, good song. Btw I saw you commented on the Pat Benatar thread, have you ever heard her cover of Mellencamp's "I need a Lover" ? If not you should check it out, I think you will enjoy it.

I haven't! It sounds like I need to do that. I will look on youtube. If they don't have, I guess nobody does.

When I was out in Vegas I was able to sing three songs with the hot girls at "Coyote Ugly" for my brothers bachelor party weekend. One of those was "Pink Houses", the other was "Creeping Death", and I forgot the third!

The new stuff has a very old folk influenced sound like Woody Guthrie or a little Johnny Cash. I think i'll get this at Wal-mart where i saw it for a good price.

I love what I do know from him (the hits) up to the early 90s. After that...nothing. I mostly like JCM for nostalgic reasons.

I like him too, got sick to death of Jack and Dianne and Pink Houses though. Good song writer and catchy tunes. He is good at putting a mood to a song.

skullsmasher wrote:

I like him too, got sick to death of Jack and Dianne and Pink Houses though. Good song writer and catchy tunes. He is good at putting a mood to a song.

Didn't care for his pop days what he writes now are more from the heart and about america.

Wargod48

Wargod48 wrote:

skullsmasher wrote:

I like him too, got sick to death of Jack and Dianne and Pink Houses though. Good song writer and catchy tunes. He is good at putting a mood to a song.

Didn't care for his pop days what he writes now are more from the heart and about america.

Wargod48

I would say John has always been doing that, maybe it's more evident now, because he like many artists of his generation have been told they don't matter anymore (based on what's popular). That being said, songs like "Pink Houses", "Small Town", & "Rain on the Scarecrow" are just a few examples of what you're talking about. Don't forget John Mellencamp was basically the guy who was instrumental for the likes of "Farm Aid". When starvation around the world became an issue, John made sure that everyone didn't forget about the plight of the American farmer in the 80's!

One of my favorite John Mellencamp albums is Happy Go Lucky, just a great album were he experiments with his sound using looping and other studio gimmicks without losing his sound.

Also the songs like "Jerry" which sounds like a song about a mentally challenged person, til you realize that song is about a man who refuses to grow up to become a man, and who chooses to embrace his ignorance than to face responsability.

What is his penalty for his immaturity/will he be cast into eternal darkness?

Great lyrics, great musician.