John Mellencamp has just dropped “Smart Guys,” the latest teaser and lyric video from the 2022 “Super Deluxe Edition” of his 1985 Scarecrow album. Mellencamp has previously released his demo of “Small Town” and the studio outtake “Carolina Shag” in advance of the box set, which is set for release this Friday (November 4th.)
John Mellencamp is a world away from the MTV-saturated star he was back in the mid-1980's when he was running steadily on the rock business treadmill: “I'm not complaining, but, y'know, the music today is made inside of those buildings in New York and Los Angeles. And they give 'em to kids, and these. . . they make little clocks now. You wind these little clocks up, they work for awhile, and then they break down, and then they get new little clocks. And that's what it is, and it's got nothing to do with me — has nothing to do with me or what I do. I'm no part of it.”