ENCORE

She’s So Tough (Mink DeVille cover)

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Whoa Whoa Whoa Whoa!  Encore???  Really?  Did he actually leave the stage after waving goodbye with his Howie Mandel Deal or No Deal Salute and actually come back with the band and play another song? 

My Recipe For "Walking Tall"

A little GRACE
A fair share of MERCY
And a whole lot of FORGIVENESS

Mix all 3 ingredients together and you can always look yourself in the mirror.

Thanks for the lyrics John.

While I can't list 51 in any order, I can do my top 5 of all time (for today of course).

1.  Love and Happiness
2.  Human Wheels
3.  Forgiveness
4.  Key West
5.  Minutes To Memories

***Runner up is "Thinking About You"***

Anyone else???

OMG, could never do this.  Like the idea though.

You are correct.  John's music simply makes sense to me.

I sure hope he has a clue as to how he has helped so many of us deal with life.

Take care.

Here is a link to yet another article. 
1 - I love the WWW cover.  I made it my wallpaper on my computer. 
2 - Read the last part of the article.  Some of us have hinted that these songs were foreshadowing the split. 

WHAT DO YOU THINK? 

I thought these were written long enough ago to simply be some of John's master-writing where he eventually touches his listeners' souls.  It just so happens that Elaine was his biggest listener.

 http://ology.com/music/john-mellencamp-and-wife-split

"But musical times have changed, and Mellencamp, 42, no longer dominates the airwaves or automatically sells millions of copies of each release..."


Can you believe they were already saying this back in 1994.  We still hear this crap today!

Terrific article.  I enjoyed it.  Man, I was in my early 20's back then.  Time is a flyin'!

Pete

I hope this is the forum to share our reactions, even if some disapprove.

I am personally shocked.  They always seem to be so happy together.  Neither one of them needed anything from the other.  I know that Elaine brought out the best in John.  He was a much different person from 1991 on.  I won't give her all the credit.  A heart attack and life experiences through aging certainly have a lot to do with that as well.  However, she was there for all of it.

I sure hope this is as mutual as it sounds now.  I also hope that John does not lose his creative edge and desire to record.  The boys are older, but divorce sucks no matter what age you are.  It would be awesome if they truly intend to stay nearby in Indiana to finish what they started in raising 2 fine boys.

I wish John, Elaine and the boys all the best. 

"I know this will not be popular, but I feel that boards like this are for opinions and this is my opinion. I have loved John Mellencamp since the beginning and have been to many concerts over the years. I still love John and his music but I just listened to one of my Christmas presents, John's new CD. I have heard some of the songs from it because I have been to his concerts recently and have heard some of the songs elsewhere. If I am completely honest, I can truthfully say I do not like most of the CD. The actual words are good, but I don't like the music to the songs. Many of the songs have a bluegrass or country twang to them. My husband loves bluegrass and country music, but I really don't like that kind of music. I realize John is evolving as an artist, but I am just too old and stuck with the original "Jack and Diane" tune in my head." 

I felt the same way when I first heard it.  I only liked Thinking About You.  That was it!  After several listens, No Better Than This, Love At First Sight and Comin Down The Road Grew On Me.  A short time after, Easter Eve had me laughing my A** off. 

It wasn't until I saw John perform these songs in KC, MO that it really hit home.  John loves what he is doing. He is so proud of this music that I simply could not resist.  That said, there are still 4-5 songs that I RARELY ever play, but I can live with that.  HOWEVER, I sure hope he doesn't do this again on his next release.  He normally reinvents himself.  I'd like to think he will feel the need to PLUG IN again.

-Pete

That is so awesome!  I always wonder if there are any younger fans out there now that he is not played on the radio much (except for 80's stuff).

Congrats on the books.  Keep it up.

I am a little sad I missed Human Wheels.  It is close to the top of my list of JM songs I love, especially acoustically.  I saw him sing it that way once in 2001, just 1 month after my dad passed away from Parkinson's disease.  I cried through the entire song. 

I wish he would have played that for you.  He delivered it full band in KC and it was pretty awesome.  I have seen footage of some older solo acoustic performances and it was amazing as well. 
John's music has a lot of meaning in so many ways.  When my mom passed at the young age of 53 with no signs of illness, I strayed in some scary directions.  Somehow, someway, John's music was the only mainstay that kept me in survival mode.  So many nights I wanted to be gone too. 
I will play Human Wheels and send a special prayer in your dad's honor as well.  God Bless.

Pete

Too funny to me.  We all cheered in KC when he made similar comments.  John is pretty much saying the same thing each night.  However, it comes out differently each time.  I imagine he looks for the right words spur of the moment.  It is possible that it was not as eloquent as he would have liked.
In KC, it was along the lines of "It is amazing how much money our country spends on bombs and war, but we won't even spend money on hungry people right over here" or something close to that.  Again, a loud cheer followed.

So sorry if anyone was offended.  However, those that have followed John's career at all KNOW FOR A FACT that he would never put the troops down.

Pete

Of any song on NBTT, Thinking About You could actually make it on AC radio in my opinion.  Such a beautiful song and the most uncomplicated one JM has written in quite some time.  Very catchy too.  I did not know the setlist when I went to KC, but was saddened afterwards when I read previous show reviews and found out he dropped it.  It is my favorite on NBTT. 

Show was terrific.  Glad to have heard Human Wheels before he replaced that one.

LOVED the KC show.  I wish I had closer than 24th row seats.  A bit too pricey for me though.

Sang and danced to EVERY song.  Who couldn't love Death Letter, Walk Tall and Human Wheels live???  Not to mention, he gave a full band BLAST to Easter Eve and Right Behind Me from the new CD.

Great job John.  You just need more of your 90's songs!  Come on!  Only Human Wheels? 

Loved the show.

Setlist: Authority Song; No One Cares About Me; Deep Blue Heart; Death Letter; Walk Tall; The West End; Check It Out; Save Some Time To Dream (solo, acoustic); Cherry Bomb (a capella); Don’t Need This Body; Right Behind Me; Jackie Brown (solo, acoustic); Longest Days; Easter Eve; Jack and Diane; Small Town (solo, acoustic); New Hymn; Rain on the Scarecrow; Paper and Fire; The Real Life; Human Wheels; If I Die Sudden; No Better Than This; Pink Houses; R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.

My wife and I have been fans forever and truly appreciate the show John put on for us.  We dropped $92/ticket and that only put us in the 24th row.  When we sat down, I was not happy with myself for not spending the extra money to be up front where MELLENHEADS belong.

John finally played his newer material:  80's = 11 songs    90's = 1 song :<(   00's = 12 songs

Sadly, he cut out Troubled Land and Thinking About You from the opening show in Indiana.  We were cheated a bit there.  I do understand that radio here does not play his new music.  There is no Rockabilly format here.  That said, I purchase EVERYTHING JM as do a lot of the people that go to the shows.  I hope John knows how much his fans really love his music, despite radio stations lack of airplay.

Biggest shockers were DEATH LETTER and HUMAN WHEELS to me.  I did not know the setlist coming in and it sure makes it more fun.  My wife and I danced more than anoyone around us.  We sang ALL THE LYRICS to all of those NEWER songs and people looked at us like "How in the hell do you know these songs"?  We loved it.  2 hours and 15 minutes, so no strong complaints.  SURE DO LOVE THE 90's MUSIC THOUGH! KEY WEST? WILD NIGHT? NOW MORE THAN EVER?  ETC... :<(