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"I don't trust the government. I don't trust the Democrats. I don't trust the Republicans... Really I'm a socialist," rocker says John Mellencamp talked Farm

Aid, his new album _Sad Clowns & Hillbillies_, mortality and how his political views differ from his fans in a wide-ranging interview with _CBS Sunday Morning_. Throughout Mellencamp’s

career, the plight of the small town American seeped into the rocker’s music, especially on 1983’s _Uh-Huh_ and 1985’s _Scarecrow_. “The reason we made that record was because we were

noticing that the landscape of Indiana is changing,” Mellencamp said of _Scarecrow_ in an extended interview with _Sunday Morning_‘s Jane Pauley. “All the small towns were going out of

business. Why? Why are all these small towns going out of business? Because everybody went to live in the city? No. It was because that corporate farming had moved in and run the small

family farmer out of business. Which is why we started Farm Aid.” Mellencamp, a longtime liberal and the son of Democrats, admitted that his political beliefs are likely in conflict with a

great number of his fanbase; there have been instances onstage where he’s been booed by his own crowd for voicing his opinion on political matters. “If you wanna get into government I can

get into it with you real quick,” Mellencamp said. “You probably don’t wanna have this conversation with me, but here’s the deal: I don’t trust the government. I don’t trust the Democrats. I

don’t trust the Republicans. I’m a little bit more Democratic than I am Republican, but really I’m a socialist. And that’s where it’s at.” TRENDING STORIES Mellencamp talked about his new

well-received LP _Sad Clowns & Hillbillies_. “I don’t care,” Mellencamp said of the good reviews. “Doesn’t matter to me. If you care about the good ones, then you’ve got to care about

the bad ones.” The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee also reflected on his career. “I don’t really know how a 25-year-old guy would know that life would go on long after the thrill of

living is gone, but I wrote those words,” Mellencamp said. “And for me it was very helpful because I don’t know about you, but I want to do something every day. I want to learn something

every day. I want to make something every day. If I go for a day and don’t make anything, I feel guilty about it.”