Chords for John Mellencamp Dan Rather Interview
Tempo:
121.85 bpm
Chords used:
A
D
G
E
F#m
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[A] [D]
[A] [D]
[A] [E]
What do you got out [A] here?
We got a place for [D] Elvis now.
[A] In case he ever shows up.
[D] My dad thought that was funny, so we [A] put that up.
Some may think that the straight-talking, roots-rocker John Mellencamp, at 55 years old, might be mellowing.
But [E] think again.
When we visited [F#] Mellencamp at his studio in Belmont, Indiana,
[A] he was fresh from a landmark concert at Walter Reed Hospital,
and was savoring his [F#m] latest album, Freedom's Road.
Which [E] tackled subjects such as racism and intolerance.
We had barely settled in when we [F#m] got the first glimpse of classic John Mellencamp.
[A] Introspective, unruffled, and far from mellow.
Well, if I ask [N] you, and I'm about to ask you, to make the statement,
This I believe.
What do you believe?
What's your bedrock?
This I believe that we could all do better, and that people give up too early.
Those are two things that I'm pretty certain of.
Most people quit way too early in the race.
And most people are not interested, for whatever reason, in doing the best job they possibly can.
They want to quit early.
And where did you learn this?
I guess from my grandfather.
His whole point in life, to me, was always,
If you're going to do it, and you tell somebody you're going to do it, you have to do it.
I think that's probably what I've taken with me all through life,
was being tenacious, and I have always seen [D#m] myself as Thysipus rolling the rock up the hill.
And that's the joy of life.
People are [G#m] here to [Cm] work.
That's what we say.
[C#] We're here to work.
[D] If
[Gm] [Dm]
[Cm] you had to describe your music, how would you describe it?
[G] My music?
Well, I would say that it's
I have always written songs
Let me start this over.
A lot of people write to their base.
I've always written to the other side,
because I live where the other side lives.
I am probably the most liberal guy that you're going to talk to,
but I live in a very conservative place.
So my goal as a songwriter is to talk to conservatives
and try to say in a song,
This is another way of thinking.
This isperhapsp could work better for us. This isyouy know, whatever message I'm trying to convey. So I'm always writing to the other side. I'm not writing to my base. Interesting. Very, very interesting. You said liberal. Give me your definition of liberal. What do you mean by liberal? I am so liberal that if I said what I really believed, they would probably run me out of the country. Well, let's try it. No, no. Let's don't. Let's don't say we did. Well, I'm not going to dwell on this, but when you say you're liberal, do you consider yourself slightly left of center, medium left of center, pretty far left of center? I am for the common man, to the point where I'm not even sure the common man understands how poorly he's been treated and trampled on. And so I feel like I've got to be the guy in the red state who says, even though they don't want me to say it. You know, I wrote a song called To Washington before the war started, and people went nuts here that I wrote such an awful song about George [G#] Bush. And it wasn't an awful song. It was an old song. [D] You know, Woody Guthrie wrote it, and then I kind of updated it. People were driving by my house and yelling stuff, and I was confused. I thought, I'm trying to say what needs to be said for this area. Because in the song it says, he wants to fight with many. He says it's not for oil. You know, and [G] a lot of lines [C] that turned out to be [G] exactly right. Like that, [D] to [G] Washington I was driving to [C] the airport with my kids, and they played it on the radio, [G] and then they took [B] calls. And this guy calls up and he goes, I don't know who I hate the most, Saddam Hussein or John Mellencamp. And my kids are little [N] boys, and they go, Dad, they talking about you, just because of that song? And I said, yeah, well, you stick your neck out, you get a cut off sometimes, I guess, you know. So, you know, I always try to talk to people who don't, maybe sometimes don't want to be talked to. Anybody who knows your music at all, knows your music, knows a lot about the human spirit. Well, one thing that I'm learning about the human spirit, as much as I'd like to be positive about it, there's something wrong with it. There's something amiss with it. I'm not sure what it is, but so many times I see people who have the opportunity to do good things, and inevitably they do something bad with it. And I see it on personal levels. I see me do it. I see friends of mine do it. I see public officials do it. And inevitably we'll make the smarmy choice. And I don't know what that is, and I'm not sure what that is, because I want to believe that, you know, that we're all corrupted by what's around us, and that when we were born, that we're all born pure, and we can [C#] make the right choices. And we try to make the right choices, but, you know, when I think of, you know, by the time this war is over, it's going to cost a trillion dollars. You imagine what we could have done with a trillion dollars if we would have just gone out [G] and tried to do good things with that money around the world. If we'd have gone out and said, you know, you guys need water. We're going to dig water for you. Imagine if we'd have done that with a trillion dollars. Why do we think, as a country, that bullying people is the correct way to deal
[A] [D]
[A] [E]
What do you got out [A] here?
We got a place for [D] Elvis now.
[A] In case he ever shows up.
[D] My dad thought that was funny, so we [A] put that up.
Some may think that the straight-talking, roots-rocker John Mellencamp, at 55 years old, might be mellowing.
But [E] think again.
When we visited [F#] Mellencamp at his studio in Belmont, Indiana,
[A] he was fresh from a landmark concert at Walter Reed Hospital,
and was savoring his [F#m] latest album, Freedom's Road.
Which [E] tackled subjects such as racism and intolerance.
We had barely settled in when we [F#m] got the first glimpse of classic John Mellencamp.
[A] Introspective, unruffled, and far from mellow.
Well, if I ask [N] you, and I'm about to ask you, to make the statement,
This I believe.
What do you believe?
What's your bedrock?
This I believe that we could all do better, and that people give up too early.
Those are two things that I'm pretty certain of.
Most people quit way too early in the race.
And most people are not interested, for whatever reason, in doing the best job they possibly can.
They want to quit early.
And where did you learn this?
I guess from my grandfather.
His whole point in life, to me, was always,
If you're going to do it, and you tell somebody you're going to do it, you have to do it.
I think that's probably what I've taken with me all through life,
was being tenacious, and I have always seen [D#m] myself as Thysipus rolling the rock up the hill.
And that's the joy of life.
People are [G#m] here to [Cm] work.
That's what we say.
[C#] We're here to work.
[D] If
[Gm] [Dm]
[Cm] you had to describe your music, how would you describe it?
[G] My music?
Well, I would say that it's
I have always written songs
Let me start this over.
A lot of people write to their base.
I've always written to the other side,
because I live where the other side lives.
I am probably the most liberal guy that you're going to talk to,
but I live in a very conservative place.
So my goal as a songwriter is to talk to conservatives
and try to say in a song,
This is another way of thinking.
This isperhapsp could work better for us. This isyouy know, whatever message I'm trying to convey. So I'm always writing to the other side. I'm not writing to my base. Interesting. Very, very interesting. You said liberal. Give me your definition of liberal. What do you mean by liberal? I am so liberal that if I said what I really believed, they would probably run me out of the country. Well, let's try it. No, no. Let's don't. Let's don't say we did. Well, I'm not going to dwell on this, but when you say you're liberal, do you consider yourself slightly left of center, medium left of center, pretty far left of center? I am for the common man, to the point where I'm not even sure the common man understands how poorly he's been treated and trampled on. And so I feel like I've got to be the guy in the red state who says, even though they don't want me to say it. You know, I wrote a song called To Washington before the war started, and people went nuts here that I wrote such an awful song about George [G#] Bush. And it wasn't an awful song. It was an old song. [D] You know, Woody Guthrie wrote it, and then I kind of updated it. People were driving by my house and yelling stuff, and I was confused. I thought, I'm trying to say what needs to be said for this area. Because in the song it says, he wants to fight with many. He says it's not for oil. You know, and [G] a lot of lines [C] that turned out to be [G] exactly right. Like that, [D] to [G] Washington I was driving to [C] the airport with my kids, and they played it on the radio, [G] and then they took [B] calls. And this guy calls up and he goes, I don't know who I hate the most, Saddam Hussein or John Mellencamp. And my kids are little [N] boys, and they go, Dad, they talking about you, just because of that song? And I said, yeah, well, you stick your neck out, you get a cut off sometimes, I guess, you know. So, you know, I always try to talk to people who don't, maybe sometimes don't want to be talked to. Anybody who knows your music at all, knows your music, knows a lot about the human spirit. Well, one thing that I'm learning about the human spirit, as much as I'd like to be positive about it, there's something wrong with it. There's something amiss with it. I'm not sure what it is, but so many times I see people who have the opportunity to do good things, and inevitably they do something bad with it. And I see it on personal levels. I see me do it. I see friends of mine do it. I see public officials do it. And inevitably we'll make the smarmy choice. And I don't know what that is, and I'm not sure what that is, because I want to believe that, you know, that we're all corrupted by what's around us, and that when we were born, that we're all born pure, and we can [C#] make the right choices. And we try to make the right choices, but, you know, when I think of, you know, by the time this war is over, it's going to cost a trillion dollars. You imagine what we could have done with a trillion dollars if we would have just gone out [G] and tried to do good things with that money around the world. If we'd have gone out and said, you know, you guys need water. We're going to dig water for you. Imagine if we'd have done that with a trillion dollars. Why do we think, as a country, that bullying people is the correct way to deal
Key:
A
D
G
E
F#m
A
D
G
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ [E]
What do you got out [A] here?
_ We got a place for [D] Elvis now.
_ [A] In case he ever shows up.
[D] My dad thought that was funny, so we [A] put that up.
Some may think that the straight-talking, roots-rocker John Mellencamp, at 55 years old, might be mellowing.
But [E] think again.
When we visited [F#] Mellencamp at his studio in Belmont, Indiana,
[A] he was fresh from a landmark concert at Walter Reed Hospital,
and was savoring his [F#m] latest album, Freedom's Road.
Which [E] tackled subjects such as racism and intolerance.
We had barely settled in when we [F#m] got the first glimpse of classic John Mellencamp.
[A] _ _ Introspective, unruffled, and far from mellow.
Well, if I ask [N] you, and I'm about to ask you, to make the statement,
This I believe. _ _ _ _
What do you believe?
What's your bedrock? _ _ _
This I believe that we could all do better, and that people give up too early.
_ Those are two things that I'm pretty certain of.
Most people quit way too early in the race.
And most people are not interested, _ for whatever reason, in doing the best job they possibly can.
They want to quit early.
And where did you learn this?
I guess from my grandfather. _
His whole point in life, to me, was always,
If you're going to do it, and you tell somebody you're going to do it, you have to do it.
I think that's probably what I've taken with me all through life,
was being tenacious, and I have always seen [D#m] myself as Thysipus rolling the rock up the hill.
And that's the joy of life.
People are [G#m] here to [Cm] work.
That's what we say.
[C#] We're here to work.
[D] If
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Gm] _ _ _ _ [Dm] _ _ _ _
_ [Cm] _ _ you had to describe your music, how would you describe it?
_ [G] My music?
Well, I would say that it's_
I have always written songs_
Let me start this over.
A lot of people write to their base.
I've always written to the other side,
because I live where the other side lives.
_ I am probably the most liberal guy that you're going to talk to,
but I live in a very conservative place.
So my goal as a songwriter is to talk to conservatives
_ and try to say in a song,
_ _ _ This is another way of thinking.
This _ is_perhaps_p could work better for us. This is_you_y know, whatever message I'm trying to convey. So I'm always writing to the other side. I'm not writing to my base. _ _ Interesting. Very, very interesting. You said liberal. _ Give me your definition of liberal. What do you mean by liberal? I am so liberal that if I said what I really believed, they would probably run me out of the country. Well, let's try it. No, no. Let's don't. Let's don't say we did. _ _ _ _ _ Well, I'm not going to dwell on this, but when you say you're liberal, do you consider yourself _ slightly left of center, medium left of center, pretty far left of center? I am for the common man, to the point where I'm not even sure the common man understands how poorly he's been treated and trampled on. And so I feel like I've got to be the guy in the red state who says, even though they don't want me to say it. You know, I wrote a song called To Washington before the war started, _ and people went nuts here that I wrote such an awful song about George [G#] Bush. And it wasn't an awful song. It was an old song. [D] You know, Woody Guthrie wrote it, and then I kind of updated it. People were driving by my house and yelling stuff, and I was confused. I thought, I'm trying to say what needs to be said for _ _ this area. Because in the song it says, he wants to fight with many. He says it's not for oil. You know, and [G] a lot of lines [C] that turned out to be _ [G] _ exactly right. _ Like that, _ [D] _ to [G] Washington _ I was driving to [C] the airport with my kids, and they played it on the radio, [G] and then they took [B] calls. _ And this guy calls up and he goes, I don't know who I hate the most, Saddam Hussein or John Mellencamp. _ And my kids are little [N] boys, and they go, Dad, they talking about you, just because of that song? And I said, yeah, well, you stick your neck out, you get a cut off sometimes, I guess, you know. So, _ _ _ you know, I always try to _ talk to people who don't, maybe sometimes don't want to be talked to. _ Anybody who knows your music at all, knows your music, knows a lot about the human spirit. _ _ Well, _ _ one thing that I'm learning about the human spirit, as much as I'd like to be positive about it, _ _ there's something wrong with it. There's something _ amiss with it. _ _ I'm not sure what it is, but so many times I see people who have the opportunity to do good things, and inevitably they do something bad with it. _ _ _ _ _ _ And I see it on personal levels. I see me do it. I see friends of mine do it. I see public officials do it. _ And inevitably _ we'll make the _ smarmy choice. _ And I don't know what that is, and I'm not sure what that is, because I want to believe that, you know, that we're all corrupted by what's around us, and that _ when we were born, that we're all born pure, and _ we can [C#] make the right choices. And we try to make the right choices, but, you know, when I think of, _ _ you know, by the time this war is over, it's going to cost a trillion dollars. You imagine _ what we could have done with a trillion dollars if we would have just gone out [G] and tried to do good things with that money around the world. If we'd have gone out and said, you know, you guys need water. We're going to dig water for you. Imagine if we'd have done that with a trillion dollars. Why do we think, as a country, that bullying people is the correct way to deal
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
_ _ [A] _ _ _ _ _ [E]
What do you got out [A] here?
_ We got a place for [D] Elvis now.
_ [A] In case he ever shows up.
[D] My dad thought that was funny, so we [A] put that up.
Some may think that the straight-talking, roots-rocker John Mellencamp, at 55 years old, might be mellowing.
But [E] think again.
When we visited [F#] Mellencamp at his studio in Belmont, Indiana,
[A] he was fresh from a landmark concert at Walter Reed Hospital,
and was savoring his [F#m] latest album, Freedom's Road.
Which [E] tackled subjects such as racism and intolerance.
We had barely settled in when we [F#m] got the first glimpse of classic John Mellencamp.
[A] _ _ Introspective, unruffled, and far from mellow.
Well, if I ask [N] you, and I'm about to ask you, to make the statement,
This I believe. _ _ _ _
What do you believe?
What's your bedrock? _ _ _
This I believe that we could all do better, and that people give up too early.
_ Those are two things that I'm pretty certain of.
Most people quit way too early in the race.
And most people are not interested, _ for whatever reason, in doing the best job they possibly can.
They want to quit early.
And where did you learn this?
I guess from my grandfather. _
His whole point in life, to me, was always,
If you're going to do it, and you tell somebody you're going to do it, you have to do it.
I think that's probably what I've taken with me all through life,
was being tenacious, and I have always seen [D#m] myself as Thysipus rolling the rock up the hill.
And that's the joy of life.
People are [G#m] here to [Cm] work.
That's what we say.
[C#] We're here to work.
[D] If
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Gm] _ _ _ _ [Dm] _ _ _ _
_ [Cm] _ _ you had to describe your music, how would you describe it?
_ [G] My music?
Well, I would say that it's_
I have always written songs_
Let me start this over.
A lot of people write to their base.
I've always written to the other side,
because I live where the other side lives.
_ I am probably the most liberal guy that you're going to talk to,
but I live in a very conservative place.
So my goal as a songwriter is to talk to conservatives
_ and try to say in a song,
_ _ _ This is another way of thinking.
This _ is_perhaps_p could work better for us. This is_you_y know, whatever message I'm trying to convey. So I'm always writing to the other side. I'm not writing to my base. _ _ Interesting. Very, very interesting. You said liberal. _ Give me your definition of liberal. What do you mean by liberal? I am so liberal that if I said what I really believed, they would probably run me out of the country. Well, let's try it. No, no. Let's don't. Let's don't say we did. _ _ _ _ _ Well, I'm not going to dwell on this, but when you say you're liberal, do you consider yourself _ slightly left of center, medium left of center, pretty far left of center? I am for the common man, to the point where I'm not even sure the common man understands how poorly he's been treated and trampled on. And so I feel like I've got to be the guy in the red state who says, even though they don't want me to say it. You know, I wrote a song called To Washington before the war started, _ and people went nuts here that I wrote such an awful song about George [G#] Bush. And it wasn't an awful song. It was an old song. [D] You know, Woody Guthrie wrote it, and then I kind of updated it. People were driving by my house and yelling stuff, and I was confused. I thought, I'm trying to say what needs to be said for _ _ this area. Because in the song it says, he wants to fight with many. He says it's not for oil. You know, and [G] a lot of lines [C] that turned out to be _ [G] _ exactly right. _ Like that, _ [D] _ to [G] Washington _ I was driving to [C] the airport with my kids, and they played it on the radio, [G] and then they took [B] calls. _ And this guy calls up and he goes, I don't know who I hate the most, Saddam Hussein or John Mellencamp. _ And my kids are little [N] boys, and they go, Dad, they talking about you, just because of that song? And I said, yeah, well, you stick your neck out, you get a cut off sometimes, I guess, you know. So, _ _ _ you know, I always try to _ talk to people who don't, maybe sometimes don't want to be talked to. _ Anybody who knows your music at all, knows your music, knows a lot about the human spirit. _ _ Well, _ _ one thing that I'm learning about the human spirit, as much as I'd like to be positive about it, _ _ there's something wrong with it. There's something _ amiss with it. _ _ I'm not sure what it is, but so many times I see people who have the opportunity to do good things, and inevitably they do something bad with it. _ _ _ _ _ _ And I see it on personal levels. I see me do it. I see friends of mine do it. I see public officials do it. _ And inevitably _ we'll make the _ smarmy choice. _ And I don't know what that is, and I'm not sure what that is, because I want to believe that, you know, that we're all corrupted by what's around us, and that _ when we were born, that we're all born pure, and _ we can [C#] make the right choices. And we try to make the right choices, but, you know, when I think of, _ _ you know, by the time this war is over, it's going to cost a trillion dollars. You imagine _ what we could have done with a trillion dollars if we would have just gone out [G] and tried to do good things with that money around the world. If we'd have gone out and said, you know, you guys need water. We're going to dig water for you. Imagine if we'd have done that with a trillion dollars. Why do we think, as a country, that bullying people is the correct way to deal