Direct from John Cougar Mellencamp on songs in advertising, via the New York Times:“The bottom line is, I’m a songwriter, and I want people to hear my songs,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s right. I’m not suggesting it for anybody else. This is just what I did this time to reinvent myself and stay in business. Sometimes I get sad about it really. I still don’t think that people should sell their songs for advertising.”
Uh, this from the guy who's "This is Our Country" song is the backbone for all the Chevy Truck ads for crying out loud. Well, Mr. Mellencamp, if you really "...still don’t think that people should sell their songs for advertising.”, maybe you should take your own advice. Talk about Hypocrite!
He continues:
“People say I sold out,” John Mellencamp said, explaining his decision to license a song for a Chevrolet commercial. “No, I got sold out. Sometime during the ’90s record companies made the decision that us guys who had been around for a long time and had sold millions of records and were household names just weren’t as interesting as girls in stretch dresses.”
Oh yeah, it's the stretch dresses that made you sell out. That must be why you licensed the formerly classic "Jack and Diane" to Jessica Simpson.
As for Mellencamp's American pride, he plants his anti-Bush song at the tail end of his new CD, and without listing the track on the CD sleeve:
"Though Mr. Mellencamp opted to avoid a more overtly politicized album, he couldn’t resist including “Rodeo Clown,” a harsh attack on President Bush and the Iraq war, with lines about “blood on the hands of the rich politicians” and “blood on the hands of an arrogant nation.” The song isn’t listed on the packaging and appears several minutes after the album’s last track."
Ooooh! How brave! Thank goodness we have real artists like Mellencamp to stand up for their beliefs, yeah, right. Go make another ad you pink house loser!