Mellencamp Asks McCain to Stop Using His Songs

I have a peculiar connection to John Mellencamp. You see my partner is from a small town in Indiana called Columbus, and his grandparents were from the nearby town of Seymore, Indiana. Seymore was made famous in John Mellencamp’s song “Small Town”. In fact Mellencamp is from Seymore, so you can see the conection.

Mr. Mellencamp’s songs are known as Heartland Rock and as such are popular with politicians looking for theme songs. Unfortunately, those politicians apparently don’t listen to the lyrics, because “Small Town” is decisively populist in it’s lyrics and in fact, Mr. Mellencamp is a Democrat. That fact escaped John McCain when his campaign decided to use the music behind several commercials and campaign videos. McCain uses “Our Country” and “Pink Houses” at his rallies. And now John Mellencamp has asked him to stop.

So far no word from the McCain group, but I suspect they will listen closer to the lyrics next time.

Here are the lyrics to “Our Country”, they sure sound like something a Democrat would sing not a Republican.