life goes on long after the thrill lyrics

The bracing country-rock tune “Lie to Me” lances into a world of fakes and cheaters, with obvious political overtones. Often on Strictly a One-Eyed Jack, he sounds like Dylan or Waits, with their trickstery absurdism replaced by a stark Midwestern earnestness.

Now, Mellencamp has essentially become that guy. At 70, Mellencamp has seen enough: “Worries occupy my brain/I worry about tomorrow/I worry about today,” he sings over the front-porch blues stomp of “I Am a Man That Worries.” The music is just as serious, a rough yet refined version of the Americana rusticity that’s been a hallmark of his sound since back when he was positing himself as the hardheaded Indiana-roots rejoinder to MTV’s slick coastal elites - a dude who flipped the bird to the flashy excess of the Tawny Kitaen era by appearing on the cover of his 1987 album, The Lonesome Jubilee, sitting in a small-town bar next to a stone-faced farmer who looks like he’s been parked there since the Dust Bowl. The grim honesty of the sentiment is striking, almost as striking as the forbiddingly rugged croak of his voice, which now approaches Bob Dylan and Tom Waits territory in its rangy, weathered gravitas.

long after the thrill of livin' is gone.“We watch our lives just fade away,” John Mellencamp sings on Strictly a One-Eyed Jack, his 25th studio album.Diane says, Baby, you ain't missin' a thing.Well then there and Diane, we oughtta run off to the city.Scratches his head and does his best James Dean.Jackie sits back reflects his thoughts for the moment.Long after the thrill of livin' is gone, they walk on.Long after the thrill of livin' is gone, say ah.Suckin' on a chili dog outside the tastee freeze.Diane's debutante in the backseat of Jackie's car.Two American kids growin' up in the heartland.

Life goes on long after the thrill lyrics