John Mellencamp was recently asked by ‘The New York Times’ about why he sings a lot about America. He quoted Bob Dylan in his reply.
Mellencamp said, "I’m going to quote Bob Dylan... Bob and I were painting together one day, and I asked him how he wrote so many great songs. In all seriousness, he said, 'John, I’ve written the same four [expletive] songs a million times.' I’m going to get in line with Bob on that. It’s always the same song, just more mature or with a different angle...”
He added, "People have been saying that about my records since I started... I’m just not interesting enough that I can write that many songs about myself. I don’t even really know what I’m writing about half the time."
What has changed over the years is his singing voice, and that's because, despite suffering a heart attack in 1994, he still smokes.
Mellencamp said, "My grandmother lived to be 100. I’m pretty sure I won’t make it that long, because I started smoking when I was 10. When you start smoking, you have to want to. But now it’s the only thing that I do well, so I don’t mess with it."
Mellencamp will release his next album, Orpheus Descending, on June 16th.
[Source: Classic Hits Today]