![]() What took so long for this collaboration to happen? ![]() Question: There is being much made of you and Bruce singing together on a record for the first time, but you’ve known each other for decades. ![]() In his conversation with USA TODAY, Mellencamp, who recently canceled his tour because of COVID-19 obstacles (“for the third time,” he says with a sigh), delves into his long relationship with Springsteen, the portentous themes on the new album and the history of the everlasting “Jack & Diane.” The duo romp a little more on the easy swinging “Did You Say Such a Thing,” but also warn “the forecast is severe” on the piano and accordion-laden “A Life Full of Rain.” The album’s first single, “Wasted Days,” finds the pair in a reflective state (“Who’s counting now, these last remaining years / How many minutes do we have here?”). ![]() He also enlisted an old friend for a trio of songs, a kindred spirit in wistful storytelling: Bruce Springsteen. On Friday, Mellencamp unveils his first album in five years. “Strictly a One-Eyed Jack” features a dozen songs packed with themes of mortality and dense lyrics, guided by the album’s protagonist, “a dangerous old man” (i.e., the one-eyed Jack, which Mellencamp will further explain). From the early days of Johnny Cougar – a name he says “was forced on me. and I don’t like anybody telling me what to do” – through '80s MTV staples (“Pink Houses,” “Hurts So Good,” “Small Town”) rootsy zigzags (“Paper in Fire,” “Get a Leg Up,” “Wild Night”) a shadowy musical written with Stephen King (“Ghost Brothers of Darkland County”) and voluminous accolades (the Songwriters Hall of Fame, ASCAP Founders Award and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are but a few), his accomplishments overwhelm. Mellencamp’s is a rightfully celebrated career. Or, as it turns out, on the other end of the phone for an hour. Exactly the type who would make an ideal conversationalist over a few drinks. He’s calling from “on top of the mountain” in Northern California – not literally, but in his home – and for a guy often pegged as prickly, he’s immediately disarming. “If a squirrel chews through the line, we’re in trouble,” John Mellencamp says by way of introduction. Mellencamp’s as-yet-untitled upcoming album is due out next year.Īt Clive Davis’ Grammy Museum benefit event earlier this year, Mellencamp – whose Americana sound was frequently compared to The Boss’ early in his career - told Billboard that “Bruce is singing on the new record and is playing guitar.” Springsteen confirmed the news in an interview on Sirius XM’s E Street Radio in June, during which he said he had spent time in Indiana with Mellencamp working on new music.Watch Video: Diamond shines at Songwriters Hall of Fame The video was directed by Springsteen long-time collaborator Thom Zimny and filmed in New Jersey earlier this month. In the performance video for the track that debuted on Wednesday morning the men strum guitars in a mansion and on a driveway in front of an American flag amid images of children playing in fields as they throw their arms around each other and play cards in the fading light. Though the two American singer-songwriter icons have shared stages before, this is the first time they’ve hit the studio together. “How much sorrow is there left to climb?/ How many promises are worth the time?/ And who on Earth is worth our time?/ Is there a heart here that I can call mine?” he sings. Bruce Springsteen Reveals 2022 E Street Band Tour, Collaborations with Killers, John MellencampĪfter a violin break, The Boss, 72, leans into the second verse with an urgent series of questions about what it’s all about.
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