This is one of those covers that makes my ask myself, "Why?" I like both artists, I like the song. But really what does Mellencamp contribute to differentiate his version from Springsteen doing it at a more advanced age from the original? Yeah, the accents are a little different and Mellencamp's voice resonates a little higher but ultimately, I hear them as essentially the same thing.
my friend told me to check this video out. He put much much much much emphasis on when he said the song is called BORN IN THE USA, then he said to me, then why the crap is Obama there. So i just walked away
Kill the yellow man? I always always thought it said kill the enemy. anyway, i live just down the pike from john. My hero, he is. our little hometown hero. why does bruce look like he's going to puke? I mean, seriously, he looks like he's going to get sick. Anyway, LOVE IT!
no, the lyric is 'the yellow man'. don't know what you've been listening to all these years if you thought it said 'enemy'. changes the entire texture of the song for you, doesn't it?
Actually that is incorrect. Pink Houses was recorded in Spring 1983 and released on the album Uh Huh November 83. It was a single around the time BITUSA was. BITUSA was also recorded in the same time frame but note released until June 84 when the album came out.
@ruamellencampfan springsteen and mellencamp do the same kind of music - have the same kind of thoughts.......Bruce is northern, brings a northern touch, John is southern, brings a southern touch. it's all good.
@RockyHooligan Geography lesson....I'm in Kentucky. Loretta Lynn is also from Kentucky/West Virginia. Ask her, she'll tell you it's like one state. John lives right up I65 from me, he's southern. Have you listened to his accent at ALL? Kentucky and Indiana are NOT New Jersey/PA.
BITUSA was first recorded as part of the "Nebraska" songs in January 1982. A full ESB version (in fact, mostly the version eventually released in 1984) was recorded in March 1982.
It is certainly not unusual for major artists to hear bootlegs by other artists before their official release.
Listening to the two songs I would say the chances of Mellencamp having written "PH" without first having heard "BITUSA" are about 0.000 percent.
There is no chance that Mellencamp heard a bootleg of "Born in the USA" before he wrote "Pink Houses." The two songs aren't even about the same thing. "Born in the USA" is about a Vietnam vet, "Pink Houses" is about how the American dream isn't all that it's cracked up to be. In 1983, Mellencamp wasn't listening to bootlegs from other artists.
That's just idiotic. Pink Houses came out in the early fall of '83. Born in the USA hadn't come out til June of '84. Did Bruuuce rip off 'Jack and Diane' for it? c'mon...
Awesome job on the song John! Both of you guys have played a major part of "the soundtracks to my life" I can listen to your bodies of work and it transports me right to what was going on with my life. THANK YOU BOTH!
Just missed it last night and was waiting for it on here! looks like it was pretty good live. John should be up there - I think he will be if he gets back to what he became famous for!
For all you haters out there. Bruce turned around and told the person behind him that he loved it. I think Bruce would have been disappointed by carbon copy covers from contemporaries. If you want to hear Bruce's version listen to Bruce.
P.S. I think part of the problem is whoever is mixing this thing at least for TV...bet it sounded better at the actual event! His voice was a little too much out front as well as dry......reverb peeps, reverb!!!
That was Aronoff, but he's not back in Mellencamp's band. He was just serving as the drummer of the house band that night, so he played with all the performers. Still cool to see them back together, though.
mellencamp is my fav singer of all time. but yes he f@cked this up bad. he missed half the words of the song. he missed the whole verse about his brother, and his brothers woman. thats the most powerful part of the whole song. how his bother died for a war that should of never happin.... john should of killed this song. yes very embarrassing.
He didn't miss any verses -- this was edited for TV, so they edited those two verses out. The was recorded on Dec. 6 and aired Dec. 29, and all the performers songs were edited down by CBS because of time constraints.
It was a great version. I don't know where embarrassing is coming from....loved the folk/blues beginning and then the band kicking in. I thought John was engaged, in the moment and had good energy. I watch and write about tons of music, and have seen "mailed in performances" Not this one....the only rough moment of the night was Melissa Etherdige's over-the-top "Born to Run" - but then again, that is kinda her style.
I loved it, think John did a nice job showing that at it's core it's a folk/protest song. It was a different sound by the backing house band, but it was that way for all of the other artists. I think they were intentionally trying to make sure it didn't sound too much like a clone of the E Street Versions.
Nice try Indiana, but you have nothing on New Jersey!
nat1hnails 2 months ago
That opening was fantastic
defjeffo 6 months ago
He should have sung it likeVBruce would!!!!!!!!
NC28001 7 months ago
this is so much better than springsteen ever did . . mellencamp is simply so much better
shrewsean 8 months ago
@shrewsean Youre an IDIOT!!!!!
milcookful 6 months ago
I think all who performed his songs that night, felt they were not fit to unbuckle his sandle.
mylovelyman2 8 months ago
Obama is thinking, "Where the fuck Jay-Z at?"
FightinColts 9 months ago
@FightinColts I get it, he's a black guy, therefore, he must...yeah. Cool.
rasputinsghost 8 months ago
I like Mellencamp ok, but this is just awful. He can't sing it like Bruce and he can't make it his own.
tybabs0926 9 months ago
I love love love Bruce...this was never one of my favorites...but Mell
encamp made it pretty awesome
ComSamVimes81 9 months ago
he messed up the first line..
pikopanda1 9 months ago
Mellencamp's got a unique style, no doubt it, loved it.
mike3514 1 year ago 5
Gotta love Dave Brubeck grooving to this @ 1:52 (and Mel Brooks too @ 2:07)!!
teisenmenger 1 year ago
24 people accidentally hit the thumbs up button.
SuperJustin151 1 year ago
I'm from Seymour, IN and love both Springsteen and Mellencamp but even I think this is shit
vomit1976 1 year ago
This is one of those covers that makes my ask myself, "Why?" I like both artists, I like the song. But really what does Mellencamp contribute to differentiate his version from Springsteen doing it at a more advanced age from the original? Yeah, the accents are a little different and Mellencamp's voice resonates a little higher but ultimately, I hear them as essentially the same thing.
bigcabdaddy 1 year ago
They are both sad because nothing has really changed in US policy, how we send poor kids off to war...
KDelphi 1 year ago
my friend told me to check this video out. He put much much much much emphasis on when he said the song is called BORN IN THE USA, then he said to me, then why the crap is Obama there. So i just walked away
scrapeface12 2 years ago
a great rendition but its hard to say from the look on Bruce's face if he approved or not.
He almost looked sad, perhaps remembering those friends of his who he originally wrote the song for
SW189 2 years ago
One of the best singer/songwriter alltime
Tunnelof 2 years ago 7
I like Mellencamp too, but only Bruce can sing this song with the conviction that the song demands. The Boss rules.
Ice9329 2 years ago 17
oh and BTW, you can see on the President's face at the beginning of this video that he's a Mellenhead.
conniebky 2 years ago
Kill the yellow man? I always always thought it said kill the enemy. anyway, i live just down the pike from john. My hero, he is. our little hometown hero. why does bruce look like he's going to puke? I mean, seriously, he looks like he's going to get sick. Anyway, LOVE IT!
conniebky 2 years ago
no, the lyric is 'the yellow man'. don't know what you've been listening to all these years if you thought it said 'enemy'. changes the entire texture of the song for you, doesn't it?
RockyHooligan 2 years ago 4
I DIG IT.
freejack 2 years ago
"Pink Houses", of course, was more or less based on "BITUSA."
jaystarstar 2 years ago
Actually that is incorrect. Pink Houses was recorded in Spring 1983 and released on the album Uh Huh November 83. It was a single around the time BITUSA was. BITUSA was also recorded in the same time frame but note released until June 84 when the album came out.
ruamellencampfan 2 years ago 2
@ruamellencampfan springsteen and mellencamp do the same kind of music - have the same kind of thoughts.......Bruce is northern, brings a northern touch, John is southern, brings a southern touch. it's all good.
conniebky 2 years ago 5
southern? he's from Indiana. you can wish all you want that Indiana is southern just because it's rural, but it's northern to the bone.
RockyHooligan 2 years ago
@RockyHooligan Geography lesson....I'm in Kentucky. Loretta Lynn is also from Kentucky/West Virginia. Ask her, she'll tell you it's like one state. John lives right up I65 from me, he's southern. Have you listened to his accent at ALL? Kentucky and Indiana are NOT New Jersey/PA.
conniebky 2 years ago
BITUSA was first recorded as part of the "Nebraska" songs in January 1982. A full ESB version (in fact, mostly the version eventually released in 1984) was recorded in March 1982.
It is certainly not unusual for major artists to hear bootlegs by other artists before their official release.
Listening to the two songs I would say the chances of Mellencamp having written "PH" without first having heard "BITUSA" are about 0.000 percent.
Which is not a slam. Both songs are great.
jaystarstar 2 years ago 2
There is no chance that Mellencamp heard a bootleg of "Born in the USA" before he wrote "Pink Houses." The two songs aren't even about the same thing. "Born in the USA" is about a Vietnam vet, "Pink Houses" is about how the American dream isn't all that it's cracked up to be. In 1983, Mellencamp wasn't listening to bootlegs from other artists.
JMFan06 2 years ago 2
That's just idiotic. Pink Houses came out in the early fall of '83. Born in the USA hadn't come out til June of '84. Did Bruuuce rip off 'Jack and Diane' for it? c'mon...
mowm88 2 years ago
Bruce is my #1 singer, and John my #2.
I think John did a good job.
BrunoLeBoss 2 years ago
Awesome job on the song John! Both of you guys have played a major part of "the soundtracks to my life" I can listen to your bodies of work and it transports me right to what was going on with my life. THANK YOU BOTH!
Jahof007 2 years ago
Just missed it last night and was waiting for it on here! looks like it was pretty good live. John should be up there - I think he will be if he gets back to what he became famous for!
spudth 2 years ago
For all you haters out there. Bruce turned around and told the person behind him that he loved it. I think Bruce would have been disappointed by carbon copy covers from contemporaries. If you want to hear Bruce's version listen to Bruce.
tednottodd 2 years ago
Check it out...is that Kenny Aronoff (Mellencamp's long-time drummer) drumming once again for Mellencamp???
colafrog48 2 years ago
P.S. I think part of the problem is whoever is mixing this thing at least for TV...bet it sounded better at the actual event! His voice was a little too much out front as well as dry......reverb peeps, reverb!!!
colafrog48 2 years ago
That was Aronoff, but he's not back in Mellencamp's band. He was just serving as the drummer of the house band that night, so he played with all the performers. Still cool to see them back together, though.
JMFan06 2 years ago
mellencamp is my fav singer of all time. but yes he f@cked this up bad. he missed half the words of the song. he missed the whole verse about his brother, and his brothers woman. thats the most powerful part of the whole song. how his bother died for a war that should of never happin.... john should of killed this song. yes very embarrassing.
3mikeb 2 years ago
He didn't miss any verses -- this was edited for TV, so they edited those two verses out. The was recorded on Dec. 6 and aired Dec. 29, and all the performers songs were edited down by CBS because of time constraints.
JMFan06 2 years ago
@3mikeb he didn't forget to sing that part, there was A LOT going on that night, time restraints, you know?
conniebky 2 years ago
It was a great version. I don't know where embarrassing is coming from....loved the folk/blues beginning and then the band kicking in. I thought John was engaged, in the moment and had good energy. I watch and write about tons of music, and have seen "mailed in performances" Not this one....the only rough moment of the night was Melissa Etherdige's over-the-top "Born to Run" - but then again, that is kinda her style.
rockrob 2 years ago
I loved it, think John did a nice job showing that at it's core it's a folk/protest song. It was a different sound by the backing house band, but it was that way for all of the other artists. I think they were intentionally trying to make sure it didn't sound too much like a clone of the E Street Versions.
ruamellencampfan 2 years ago
Mellencamp butchered the song. Embarassing performance. And I'm a big fan.
BigShotTony 2 years ago
That was great. Thanks for posting.
mowm88 2 years ago