110+ John Mellencamp Quotes (Rock, Folk And Heartland)

John Mellencamp is an American musician, singer-songwriter, painter and actor. He is known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation. Mellencamp rose to fame in the 1980s with hits such as "Jack & Diane," "Hurts So Good," and "Pink Houses."

Top 10 John Mellencamp Quotes

1. It's my responsibility as a singer-songwriter to report the news.
2. A lot of Woody Guthrie's songs were taken from other songs. He would rework the melody and lyrics, and all of a sudden it was a Woody Guthrie song.
3. 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.
4. Grandma's on the front porch with a Bible in her hand, sometimes I hear her singing take me to the promised land.
5. Unemployment is sky-rocketing; deflation is in our future for the first time since the Great Depression. I don't care whose fault it is, it's the truth.
6. Natalie from the Dixie Chicks could have said what she said before 9-11 and no one would have cared.
7. An honest man's pillow is his peace of mind.
8. When you live in hysteria, people start thinking emotionally.
9. I do things my way and I pay a high price.
10. Be careful of those who kill in Jesus' name; he don't believe in killing at all.

John Mellencamp Short Quotes

• I don't want to be a politician. I don't like politics. It's petty; it fights dirty.
• Grace, Mercy and Forgiveness will help a man walk tall. Walk tall!
• they say life goes on long after the thrill of living
• Sometimes love don't feel like it should, you make it hurt so good.
• People in Indiana have known me for 25 years. They've known George Bush four.
• I'm using my art to comment on what I see. You don't have to agree with it.
• I'm your average Joe guy. I don't really care for politicians.
• This is not a rock opera. This is not Tommy. I can write songs that emote, and that's it.
• I think the Internet is the most dangerous thing invented since the atomic bomb.
• The simple man, baby, pays for the thrills, the bills, and the pills that kill.

John Mellencamp Famous Quotes And Sayings

If Woody Guthrie set the bar for American songwriters, Bob Dylan jumped right over it. No one I know will ever come close to possessing the beauty of melody and the use of language that Dylan shares with us, with ease. — John Mellencamp

Some people say I'm obnoxious and lazy, that I'm uneducated, that my opinion means nothing, but I know I'm a real good dancer. — John Mellencamp

My grandmother made sure that I went to church every Sunday. And shed come over and pick us boys up, and we would go to the Nazarene church. And back then, that was about as close to heaven as I ever got, because just the time to be able to spend with her, and she was very, very religious. — 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'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 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

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

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 thought I knew a lot about music. Then you start digging and the deeper you go, the more there is. — 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

If fans are going to turn on me because of this, they weren't my fans anyway. I couldn't betray a whole 25 years of record making and not do this. I had to. — John Mellencamp

A lot of record company people, even though they're our age, want to be perceived as young hip guys, and they're hurting the business. — John Mellencamp

I'm wide open and will entertain anything anybody has to say, but if it's MTV and radio, well, they're great things, but can't be the only thing. I don't know that it would work even for the Beatles. — John Mellencamp

To say that we're doomed is just an obvious remark. — John Mellencamp

When people are afraid, they make emotional decisions. — John Mellencamp

Do I think it's OK to fight authority as long as you're only talking about the high school teacher? No. — John Mellencamp

You know, it's cigarettes that killed (Jerry) Garcia. Everyone thinks it's heroin, but it wasn't. It was cigarettes. — John Mellencamp

Immersing yourself in the environment of a real record store where music is celebrated and cherished adds real value to the experience of buying music. In some ways, that retail experience is as important as the music. — John Mellencamp

Future generations, riding on the highways that we built, I hope they have a better understanding. — John Mellencamp

When politicians use fear, they are playing into the enemy's hand. — John Mellencamp

All my friends are so small town. — John Mellencamp

People have the right to say what they want to. — John Mellencamp

Back in the '80s and '90s, when there was still a record business, there was pressure on anyone who was fortunate to have a few hits on a major label to continue that success. — John Mellencamp

I've never fit in in any music world. I've always been an outsider. I mean, the fact that I live in Indiana - I live in a fly-over state... I'm not running away from anything, that's the problem. Most people go to cities because they don't like where they come from. — John Mellencamp

Now more than ever the world needs love, not just a slogan. — John Mellencamp

We lost our way a long time ago with technology. Just because something is an advancement by going digital - that was a huge (expletive) mistake. It was a way for people to make money, but it sure didn't improve sound or quality of record making. It made it faster, cheaper, but it isn't as durable. — John Mellencamp

I remember the first time I saw a CD, a technology guy brought one to my house and said we will be able to sell millions and millions of players, and people will have to restock their record collections. It was all about money. It was all about how much money we would make, "we" being "him." — John Mellencamp

I need a lover that won't drive me crazy, someone that knows the meaning of hey, hit the highway. — John Mellencamp

I've just been fortunate to havehad a lot of hit records, though Human Wheels doesn't qualify as a hit record-but it's really the best single I've ever had. — John Mellencamp

The greatest thing that ever happened to (my career) was the breakdown of the record companies, because there were no more stupid questions about how many hits are on the next record. It was very liberating. — John Mellencamp

Wait a minute, guys, I have always been on your side. I have always spoken for you, always tried to put on a good face for the state of Indiana. All of a sudden, some of you people think I'm a bad guy? — John Mellencamp

She said she wasn't afraid of Satan, in fact, she thought he was a joke. She said she'd tear his tail off and run her fist down his throat. — John Mellencamp

You have to reinvent yourself. — John Mellencamp

Now I do have a choice, and I'm not going to do anything I don't want to do. — John Mellencamp

I fight authority and authority always wins. — John Mellencamp

Ain't that America, home of the free? Little pink houses for you and me. — John Mellencamp

I'm trying to write for people my age. And my inspiration over the years has changed dramatically. — John Mellencamp

It's what you do and not what you say. If you're not part of the future, then get out of the way! — John Mellencamp

I think it's ridiculous to try to sell records to teenagers, because teenagers don't buy my records. And there ain't that many teenagers out there in the marketplace. — John Mellencamp

Nobody heard anything ahead of time. — John Mellencamp

I enjoy the pleasure of my own company. — John Mellencamp

Nobody wants to make great albums now because nobody wants to buy them and there's no place to sell them. — John Mellencamp

Hold on to 16 as long as you can. — John Mellencamp

Mama, why do I always fall for the crazy ones? — John Mellencamp

I know there's a balance, I see it when I swing past. — John Mellencamp

The reason I said the Internet is dangerous is that a couple smart guys could hack into a computer and shut down the Eastern seaboard if they wanted to. It's a terrible, out-of-control thing. — John Mellencamp

There is nothing more sad or glorious than generations changing hands. — 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

Give me someone I can look up to, show me someone I can love. — John Mellencamp

All I can do is repeat what I think is the best information that anybody ever gave me. — John Mellencamp

There's a young man in a T-shirt listening to a rock and roll station. He's got greasy hair, greasy smile, he says, Lord this must be my destination. — John Mellencamp

Take 'Jack and Diane.' I was so disgusted with people thinking the line 'Hold on to sixteen as long as you can' meant to stay a teenager forever. What I meant was keep doing whatever makes you feel alive. — John Mellencamp

Most people in life, give up too early. — John Mellencamp

With no bottom line, it's hard to know wrong from right. But I ain't ever satisfied. — John Mellencamp

I look at some of my contemporaries trying to emulate what they were 30 years ago and just because of the age factor alone, they look silly. — John Mellencamp

What we do to each other are the worst things that we do. — John Mellencamp

The Internet is the wrong direction for music. — John Mellencamp

I want to sell to people my own age, because that's the way I write songs. — John Mellencamp

For me or a Bruce Springsteen to sit up in our ivory towers and make comments about racism, well, were not really in it, are we? — John Mellencamp

I'm looking for trouble. A lot of people get to be a certain age and they just kind of lose interest or they give up. But I'm looking for trouble. — John Mellencamp

Growing up leads to growing old and then to dying And dying to me don't sound like all that much fun — 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

Country sure has changed in the last 10 years. It was one thing, then it was another. Country has slowly marched toward a rock beat and rock preservation. Country artists of today. Man! That's how I used to sound in the '80s. — John Mellencamp

I have a bunch of information in my head that I'm not afraid to put in song or onto a canvas. Into any conversation. — John Mellencamp

You shouldn't even be in a band if you can't play Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away. — John Mellencamp

When you live life for yourself it's hard on everyone. And that hasn't changed. For me, if anything, it's gotten worse. — John Mellencamp

Check it out, forgot to say hello to my neighbors. Check it out, sometimes I question my own behavior. — John Mellencamp

This is about black people selling out other black people. — John Mellencamp

Go to work and be a Hollywood stud, drive your four wheel drive right into the mud. — 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

All the women in the world want a phony rock star who plays guitar. — John Mellencamp

My voice has gotten better from smoking. — John Mellencamp

Want me to spend the night? Hey lover boy, you know I will, and my best girlfriend lives down the road, together we will thrill you. — John Mellencamp

I want you to dance naked, if you like, I'll join you. — John Mellencamp

Rock'n'roll starts between the legs and goes through the heart, then to the head. As long as it does those three things, it's a great rock song. — John Mellencamp

The dust to which this flesh shall return, it is the ancient dreaming dust of God. — John Mellencamp

I'm not a nostalgic person. I'm not nostalgic about much of anything. — John Mellencamp

Dear Mr. President, can I ask you a question, when the bombs fall down will they hurt everyone in my family? — John Mellencamp

I've never had anybody produce my records. I've always produced my own records. I've worked with a guy for a while who was an engineer who helped me produce records, but I've always made my own records. I'm a control fanatic. I've got to control everything. — John Mellencamp

We have been lied to and terrorized by our own government, and it is time to take action. — John Mellencamp

This is serious business, sex, violence, and rock and roll. — John Mellencamp

Don't ever lose that innocent laughter, don't let time take that away — John Mellencamp

She chased after her dream with much desire, but when she got to close to her expectations, well the dream burned up like paper in fire. — John Mellencamp

You can't tell your best buddy that you love him. — John Mellencamp

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

I know a lot of funny people in a lot of funny places. — John Mellencamp

Music actually meant something when I started doing it. Too bad I wasn't mature enough to write anything that meant anything. — John Mellencamp

His frustration running very high, he takes it out on the ones he loves because it's safe. — John Mellencamp

Turning music into digital was just a con, a record-company con. — John Mellencamp

It's a lonely ol' night. Can I put my arms around you? — John Mellencamp

Life Lessons by John Mellencamp

1. John Mellencamp's music emphasizes the importance of hard work and perseverance, as seen in songs such as "Small Town" and "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.".
2. He also emphasizes the importance of staying true to oneself, as seen in songs such as "Jack and Diane" and "Pink Houses".
3. His music also encourages the listener to appreciate the simple things in life, as seen in songs such as "Cherry Bomb" and "Rain on the Scarecrow".