“That’s a Bulls*** Name”: Why John Mellencamp Hates Heartland Rock So Much

You certainly wouldn’t be alone in thinking that John Mellencamp is a heartland rock musician, but he wouldn’t agree with you. Heartland rock is a term that came to prominence in the 1970s and 80s to describe music that sat between heavy metal and folk.

Similar to country music but not quite country, heartland rock lyrics often center around blue-collar workers, rural life, and other common American tropes. Artists like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, and Bob Seger have donned this moniker. 

John Mellencamp has, too. But he’s always resented it.

Why John Mellencamp Hates the Idea of Heartland Rock

By definition alone, John Mellencamp seems to be the ideal embodiment of heartland rock. With songs like “Pink Houses,” “Small Town,” and “Jack & Diane,” it’s hard not to equate the Indiana native with a genre of music that sounded like rock, sang like folk, and spoke to low and middle-class Americans. But therein lies Mellencamp’s grievance: definition.

In a 2018 interview with Dan Rather, Mellencamp called heartland rock “a bulls*** name.” He argued his music “has nothing to do with the heartland, has nothing to do with root rock. There were a bunch of rock critics in the 70s and 80s who set themselves up as judge and jury. They acted as if they knew something that the rest of us didn’t know, and I always resented that.”

Mellencamp said his inclusion in “heartland rock” was merely a byproduct of critical fads. When Rather pushed back, saying many of Mellencamp’s characters seem to be intrinsically American à la John Steinbeck, the musician said he never sets out to tell a story with the heartland in mind.

How Small Stories Turned Into Political Fodder

Perhaps one of the most compelling reasons we associate John Mellencamp with heartland rock is pure lyrical association. After all, he himself said his little ditty about Jack and Diane was about two American kids growing up in the heartland. Nevertheless, Mellencamp insists his music doesn’t belong in the heartland rock category—if such a category should even exist at all.

Instead, Mellencamp argued that his music is about life in general. In his 2018 AXS TV interview, Mellencamp told Dan Rather that he writes songs about various interactions he has with people, even if they’re strangers. Considering Mellencamp grew up in Indiana, it’s unsurprising that much of his music would inadvertently contain rural American themes. These tropes, much to his chagrin, have created unintended political consequences.

John Mellencamp’s music has often resonated with conservative, right-leaning Americans, many of whom are blue-collar workers in rural areas. But this certainly wasn’t intentional. “If I am relating to conservative listeners,” Mellencamp said, “they’re not listening to the songs.” Even if they were, he continued, his ultimate goal in writing is not to achieve universality. “If your goal is to be as big and as popular and as famous as you can be, then you’re in a different business than me. That’s not my goal.”

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