![]() But I’m quickly reminded of his song Golden Gates and the lyric: “aint no golden gates gonna swing open.” We are here to work. With John’s fame and notoriety, it would be easy to think that everything John has done turned to gold. John likened himself to Sisyphus - rolling the rock up the hill, only to see the rock roll back down, then starting the process all over again (forever). If you’re going to do it, and you tell somebody you’re going to do it, you have to do it.” And most people are not interested, for whatever reason, in doing the best job they possibly can. Most people quit way too early in the race. Those are two things that I’m pretty certain of. In a 2009 Dan Rather interview, Dan asked John to finish the sentence: “This I believe…” John’s response was “We could all do better and people give up too early. And it provides further insight into John’s longevity. He conceived a plot for a musical that was written by famed author Stephen King, titled “Ghost Brothers of Darkland County.” King said of Mellencamp, “John’s written a thousand songs and I’ve written a thousand books, but neither of us were ever content to just phone it in and keep doing the same thing.” Pretty prophetic advice from King. John’s passion isn’t limited to songwriting. And John got that right very early in his career. It has been said that to have a quarter century career, you can’t just think about the last quarter or the next quarter. For those of you my age, and “holding on to 16 as long as you can,” let me remind you that was 30 years ago! I think it sums up his prolonged existence in the music industry. I remember an interviewer asking him: “When the tour finally does end, whenever you let it end, what are you going to do?” Without having to think even for a moment, John replied: “I’m going to start writing songs, that’s my next step….another record… I have a lot of ideas for the next record.”Īny guess to how long ago he said that? It was 1985 during his Scarecrow tour. ![]() Think of how many artists have come and gone since 1974, many of which reached superstardom at one point in their career.Īt the height of John’s fame he played sold out shows in large arenas, spanning multiple continents, night after night. ![]() In a competitive marketplace, businesses come and go, and the music business is no exception. But as a middle aged business professional, I have recently found myself reflecting on how Mellencamp has continued to stay relevant and how he has continued with his masterful songwriting. I could go on for paragraphs with many of my favorite Mellencamp lyrics. There is even a lyric in his song Our Country: “try to understand other people of this land.” He taught me that political opposites can respect each other’s views. While I didn’t always agree with John’s political views, I respect that he had the courage to express and defend his opinions. I for one am grateful to have had such an influential songwriter from the heartland come along just as I was maturing into adulthood. John began writing music as early as 1974, with an ambition to “make a record.” He had reached superstardom by the mid 80’s. If I could only get him to play a show in my home town of Plymouth, IN we would have the horse racing equivalent of a Superfecta! At the age of 62, in support of his 22nd full album, Mellencamp will tour once again in 2015 with tour dates booked in 3 of our 4 office locations South Bend, Fort Wayne, and Indianapolis. With 40 million albums sold worldwide and a career spanning 3 decades, John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. Many of us middle aged Hoosiers grew up listening to, and were influenced by, singer songwriter John Mellencamp.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |