Fascinating article on the political and cultural aspects of the music of John Mellencamp, though it does unfortunately neglect to mention "Authority Song", probably his most overtly political number, and perhaps the truest summation of his perspective as a songwriter, at all. "According to the red-state-versus-blue-state mentality that dominates discourse on cable television, a middle-aged white Christian man who lives in Indiana, proclaims his love for the Bible Belt, and attacks political correctness—in “Peaceful World,” he sings, “We all know this world is a wreck / We’re sick and tired of being politically correct”—is obviously a Tea Party member who subscribes to Glenn Beck’s The Blaze, flies a “Don’t Tread On Me” flag in his yard, and believes the Republican Party is too moderate. John Mellencamp is not a Republican. He is a self-avowed liberal—but his is a community-based leftism that distrusts bureaucracy and hates paternalism, yet believes in social assistance for the poor, sick, and hungry, the widows and orphans that the Bible identifies. Mellencamp inhabits common ground with libertarians on social issues, and he is a consistent opponent of war and foreign intervention, but he does not believe that an unfettered free market will solve every social problem."
Posted on: Tue, 02 Jul 2013 17:58:51 +0000