I was just reading this article about John Mellencamp on IndyStar, and somewhere around the eigth paragraph I learned about his song Longest Days, which was praised by Bob Dylan. Here’s the song on YouTube:
Here are the lyrics on azlyrics.com.
A few good Mellencamp quotes from the article:
“I would rather have Bob say something in front of the entire music business like he did,” Mellencamp said. “Bob doesn’t say anything that doesn’t come from an intellectual place or from his heart.”
“(In 1988) We were the best band in the world,” he said. “There’s no question about it. We were doing something that nobody had ever done before with accordions and violins. The hits were hits all over the world. I knew that we were great, and I was miserable.”
“At this point in my life, anything I do is strictly for myself,” he said. “If I’m enjoying it, I’ll do it. If I don’t think I’m going to enjoy it, I won’t do it.”
No need to make a fuss, said Mellencamp, who strives to follow advice given by late folk-music icon Pete Seeger: “Keep it small and keep it going. Turn yourself into a three-ring circus, and you’ll be forgotten immediately.”
“I’m in the Bob Dylan way of life,” he said. “Let’s just keep slugging.”
