John Mellencamp Quotes

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John Mellencamp

Profession : Musician

Birth : October 7, 1951

What is there to be afraid of? The worst thing that can happen is you fail. So what? I failed at a lot of things. My first record was horrible.

John Mellencamp

Bob Dylan's first couple of records in the 60's weren't considered cover records, but he only wrote one or two original songs on each album.

John Mellencamp

I couldn't have recorded this record 15 years ago. My voice didn't have the depth to pull these songs off.

John Mellencamp

I don't have to worry about any pop sensibility. I can write adult songs, and I don't have to worry about choruses and hook lines.

John Mellencamp

I would never say John Kerry would be a great president. I will say that George Bush has divided us; he has filled this country with hatred.

John Mellencamp

I'm the guy who wrote The Authority Song. Did they think I was kidding? Did they think it was only a song to entertain?

John Mellencamp

I'm your average Joe guy. I don't really care for politicians.

John Mellencamp

In so many musicals today, the story is moved forward by a song. I don't think we're gonna try to do that.

John Mellencamp

It's my responsibility as a singer-songwriter to report the news.

John Mellencamp

My thought was I should try to stick with names that people may recognize like Robert Johnson, Son House, and Hoagy Carmichael, so if somebody cared to research, they would find a wealth of material.

John Mellencamp

Natalie from the Dixie Chicks could have said what she said before 9-11 and no one would have cared.

John Mellencamp

This is about black people selling out other black people.

John Mellencamp

This is not a rock opera. This is not Tommy. I can write songs that emote, and that's it.

John Mellencamp

We could walk 3 minutes and be on the beach. I think the music kind of suffered because of it. It kind of smelled like Jimmy Buffett, which is a bad thing.

John Mellencamp

What's the difference? One guy's the same as the other.

John Mellencamp

You cannot expect the guy who drove the car into the ditch to navigate it out of the ditch. You have to put a new driver in the seat. I'm not saying the new driver is going to be any better, but we need a new driver. Kerry is the only choice.

John Mellencamp

I went to New York in 1974, to either try to get a record deal, get into the New York Art Student League, or be a dancer. So that was my plan. Some plan. And I had no money.

John Mellencamp

All I'm doing is painting. It's my hobby. And that's that.

John Mellencamp

We had an exercise in speech class in school, impromptu speaking, that I was always real good at.

John Mellencamp

I was one of those guys, you know, playing and singing, and there was no reason for me to write a song, because there were so many beautiful songs out. And Bob Dylan was always the ultimate songwriter, and nobody could ever write a song as good as him, and nobody ever has written a song as good as him.

John Mellencamp