Description
Decades of guitar-based, everyman songs sung in a gritty voice, combined with tireless, real-life advocacy of American farmers and other Midwestern folks, some say, makes him the unofficial “Head of Heartland Rock”.
One-Eyed Jack, though, has Mellencamp very honestly embracing his present self, while also throwing a few glances back toward the glory days.
So, about that look back at the good ol’ days – it comes when The Boss shows up midway through the record. “Did You Say Such a Thing,” the first true heartland-feel tune on the record, features Springsteen on guitar and harmony vocals. The album’s first single, “Wasted Days,” is a true duet between the two rock vets counting down their days without throwing them away. And album closer “A Life Full of Rain” is a somber, piano-driven tune about the good times that maybe weren’t so grand. The mood is drawn along by a Springsteen solo that resembles the work of another 80s heartlander of the Scottish variety, Mark Knopfler.
