Springsteen and Mellencamp; Ain't That America

     They should be added to baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet as American icons. At least in my lifetime, no other songwriters have chronicled American life as vividly as The Boss and John Mellencamp. They write about hometowns, downtowns, uptowns, escape, longing and the American Dream. They sing about the everyday struggles and the small victories that make up a life.
     As I've mentioned several times before, I grew up in rural mid-Michigan. My hometown was Farwell. When I lived in Detroit and people asked me where Farwell was I would say "go North 'til ya smell it and West 'til ya step in it". That was partly a joke and partly the truth. I loved growing up out in the country and wish my kids could have that same experience. When I was younger, I identified with Mellencamp's songs much more than Springsteen. Farwell was a small town in the middle of farm country. My dad was a long time part's manager for a John Deere dealership. In the summers I'd sometimes hang out at the dealership with him and hit him up for money for a bottle of grape Nehi. They had one of those old pop machines where you open the door and pull the pop bottle out. It was the most awesome thing in the world. I'd watch the farmers come in and out all day with their sunburnt faces and calloused, grease stained hands hoping my dad would have the part they needed so they could get back to work. I basically grew up in a Mellencamp song. However, he wanted to die in a small town and I wanted to get the hell out. I never really fit in. I wasn't interested in hunting or fishing or tearing apart cars. And I figured out by 3rd grade that I had no use for religion either. I switched from Mellencamp to Springsteen; born to run.
     Screen door slams, Mary's dress waves /  like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays. Those, of course, are the opening lines to "Thunder Road" by Springsteen. I would argue "Thunder Road" is the greatest song in the entire American songbook. It's from the album Born To Run which really spoke to me as a young man. It was all about escaping to somewhere better and living the American Dream. It's a romantic idea when you're young and I did a lot of running. But when you get older you realize you can't run from yourself. I've moved at least a dozen times in my life. One time, I fit all my worldly possessions in a Monte Carlo ( I had one box that didn't fit, so I just dumped the stuff in the car and left the box). In the past 8 years my wife and I have moved four times. It's winter in Ohio and I want to move somewhere warm. So I guess part of me still wants to run somewhere better, or at least warmer.
     I've lost some of my Springsteen and Mellencamp over the years (and moves). Right now, the only Mellencamp I have is The Best That I Could Do and my only Springsteen is Born To Run and Magic. I obviously recommend these to my kids. I also recommend they don't spend their lives trying to escape themselves. Peace.