York, who also says he thinks the new album is one of Mellencamp’s best, adds that each song is almost like a minifilm capturing a real life gone wrong.
#John mellencamp chasing rainbows full
The album ends with a sonic gut-punch - the cinematic “A Life Full of Rain,” in which Mellencamp sings: “Here in a room where no one cares/I’m not wanted here/I got no place to go/I’ve found all is empty/In a life full of rain.” After all, one of his hits a lifetime ago goes “Life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone.” He has sold over 40 million albums worldwide and has amassed 22 Top 40 hits in the United States. It’s a bleak assessment from a songwriter who has never pulled his punches. John Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951) is an American rock singer-songwriter, musician, painter and occasional actor known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock which emphasizes traditional instrumentation. “So the bottom line is that we go through this life that we don’t really know anybody, do we?” “We only show what we want people to see, and we really never get to know anybody because not only are we doing that, everybody’s playing that game,” he says. They act as metaphors for the way we are. Mellencamp notes that they have swords behind their backs and calls them the most dangerous cards in the deck. Both the jack of spades and jack of hearts are facing sideways and are nicknamed one-eyed jacks since only one eye is visible. The album and title song are named after playing cards. This is an incredibly powerful body of work.” Monte Lipman, founder and CEO of Republic Records, considers it one of Mellencamp’s best albums: “His undeniable gift of storytelling and poetic narratives has never been more prolific. “I know that sounds like hocus pocus, but it’s true. You know what I mean? When I was a kid, I wasn’t open. Sometimes he is stunned by what comes out: “To be real honest with you, some of these lyrics are so much smarter than me.” Lyrics come first generally and he jots them down with paper and pen. I just let the song go where it wants to go and say what it wants to say.” “When I was younger, I used to try to control my songs,” he says.
Mellencamp, whose past hits include “Jack and Diane,” “Pink Houses” and “Hurts So Good,” doesn’t labor over songs like he used to. Many of the pool of 30 songs that were edited down to a dozen were written before the pandemic, but some were inspired by it, like “Driving in the Rain.” They come very quickly to him these days.
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