Politics and religion, lets throw music in there too!

Hi, the last time I posted about a concert I had just returned from a wonderful spiritual journey known as a Steven Curtis Chapman concert! Well, Wednesday night I went back to my old home town of Nashville to see John Cougar Mellencamp.
Believe it or not, another spiritual journey.
My ten year old son and eight year old daughter along with my sister and her boyfriend and I went to see Mr. Mellencamp and John Fogerty. That was just an added bonus. I always felt as a teen that I had missed my decade because I love 60-early 70's music like Creedence Clearwater Revival. So I was thrilled to know that John Fogerty would be touring with John Mellencamp.
They were both great. Very solid performers and still able to put on a a fantastic show in 90 degree heat at an outdoor venue.
But the music is so much a vehicle for that spiritual journey that I am still on.
So lets just say that even though the crowd was a little different, the effect was no less "spiritual" at this conert than the last. I highly recommend it.
So here is another few songs for you to ponder. If you get the change you might want to see this show this summer. It won't last forever.

Now More Than Ever

Written by John Mellencamp

If you believe
Won't you please raise your hands
Let's hear your voices
Let us know where you stand
Don't shout from the shadows
Cause it won't mean a d---
Now more than ever

CHORUS
Now more than ever
The world needs love
Not just a slogan
But the world needs love
Now more than ever
I can't stand alone
Now more than ever

If I was to buy you
A diamond ring
Make you my princess
Would it mean anything
Would you take me for granted
And just curse my name
Now more than ever

CHORUS

Who am I to say
What needs to be done
I'm just nobody
Another lost one
Caught between what's left
And what needs to be done
Now more than ever
The loss of love
The loss of our dreams
It's not too late

CHORUS


Love and Happiness

Written by John Mellencamp

Well, we're droppin' our bombs
In the southern hemisphere
And people are starving
That live right here
And they're tearing down walls
In the name of peace
And they're killing each other
In the Middle East

CHORUS
But love and happiness
Have forgotten our names
And there's no value left
In love and happiness

They raise the price of oil
And they censor our mouths
If you are a young couple today
Forget buying a house
And we wage or wars
In the neighborhoods
We kill the young to feed the old
And man that ain't no good

CHORUS

So, if you sell arms
Or you run dope
You got respect
And you got hope
But the rest of us die
On your battle fields
With wounds that fester and bleed
But never heal

CHORUS
But love and happiness
Have forgotten our names
And there's no value left
In love and happiness


Walk Tall

Written by: John Mellencamp
(Note links with an * at the end appear on the album version. Lines with % at the end appear on the single version.)

The simple minded
And the uninformed
Can be easily led astray
And those that cannot connect the dots
Hey look the other way
People believe what they want to believe
When it makes no sense at all
So be careful of those killing in Jesus’s name*
He don’t believe in killing at all*

And I wish you a long sight line %
And the strength to walk tall %

Walk tall
Yeah walk on
Through this world
Walk tall

Somewhere out in the distance
Is the death of you and me
Even though we don’t think of it much
It’s still out there for us to see
If you treat life like a ballroom fight
You’ll die stinking of gin
No drunkards are allowed in heaven
No sinners will get in

Walk tall
Yeah, walk on
Walk tall
Through this world
Walk tall

So be careful in what you believe in
There’s plenty to get you confused
And in this land called paradise
You must walk in many men’s shoes
Bigotry and hatred are enemies to us all
Grace, mercy and forgiveness
Will help a man walk tall

So walk tall
Yeah, walk on
Walk tall
Through this world
Through this world
Yeah, walk tall
Then walk on
Walk tall
Then walk on
Through this world
Through this world
Through this world
Through this world
Walk tall
Walk tall
Then walk on
Walk tall

Thank You

Written by: John Mellencamp

Let me say thank-you to those who love many
Let me say thank-you to those who still play fair
Hallelujah, the meek shall inherit
Let me say thank-you to all you people out there, out there
Let me say grace for those who don’t feel they matter
May God look down on all the soldiers of this Earth
Trying to find peace in this world that house so many
Let me say grace for those who feel lost from birth, lost from birth

Let’s give a smile for those who feel that they have nothing
Let me shake the hand of Johnny Doe out on the street
Let’s give a wink for those girls who don’t feel pretty

Let’s find some water for those who need a drink, need a drink

And when I see so many broken and lonely
Soon to be entering Heaven’s door
Let me count the ways
Let me count the blessings
That no man should feel lonely anymore

Let me say good luck to the people raising families
Let me say thank-you to the men who grow the bread
And here’s to dreams of a bigger, brighter future
And that we all got someone to keep the stones from our bed

Let me say thank-you to those who love many
Let me say thank-you for those who still play fair
Hallelujah, the meek shall inherit
Let me say thank-you to all you folks out there
All you people out there