I worked at a newsstand for a couple years in the 1980s. Between reading the merchandise and silently judging customers’ purchases, there was a lot to like about the minimum wage job. John Mellencamp was one of the most famous people I rang up. The heartland rock heavyweight was characteristically aloof.
Even though I was a Bruce Springsteen guy, I recognized that Mellencamp’s misanthropic songs were more representative of the people I knew and the place I called home. Springsteen appears on three tracks of Mellencamp’s astounding new album Strictly a One-Eyed Jack. The hard-knock tone is matched by Mellencamp’s smoke-ravaged voice. Strictly a One-Eyed Jack often sounds as if Tom Waits is covering Mellencamp’s superlative 1987 album The Lonesome Jubilee.
I shouldn’t be surprised to find myself admiring a Mellencamp album in 2022. The cynic’s advanced age finally matches his lifelong sensibility. I feel much the same way about myself. It’s simply stating the obvious to reveal that Mellencamp purchased a pack of cigarettes during our brief encounter 35 years ago.