Lyrics for John Mellencamp – Hurts So Good; When I was a young boy Said put away those young boy ways Now that I'm gettin' older, so much older I love all those. Listen to songs and albums by John Mellencamp, including 'Jack and Diane,' 'Jack & Diane,' 'Hurts So Good,' and many more. Free with Apple Music.

CREDIT: David Buchan/Variety/REX/Shutterstock “Let’s face it, I am a curmudgeon,” tells Variety. “I hate doing f—ing interviews ’cause I hate talking about myself.

It’s like, ‘Interview? Oh God.’ I’m just not that interesting.” We beg to differ. The artist whose catalog includes 23 studio albums and nearly just as many radio hits (among them: top 10 tunes “Jack & Diane,” “Hurts So Good,” “Small Town,” “R.O.C.K. In the U.S.A.,” and “Paper in Fire”) is nothing if not prolific, releasing his latest, the superb “Sad Clowns & Hillbillies,” on Friday, ahead of a 22-date AEG tour this summer (Mellencamp is booked by CAA) with Carlene Carter opening. The trek will mark the first time Mellencamp has played outdoor sheds in 15 years.

“I took myself off the beer and circus tour a long time ago,” he says. “It was not fun — people being drunk and acting like circus clowns. So we play for people who want to hear music and I don’t like to see guys get in fights, I’m not a jukebox, I don’t play all my hits. I got off that a long time ago.”.

What else doesn’t he like about touring? Plenty, we discovered during an enlightening and entertaining conversation with Mellencamp, who says, “I wouldn’t want to be a young songwriter today trying to make a living with my songs.” Related Ray Davies showed him the concert ropes: “I opened up for in the mid- to late-1970s for 130 shows and I learned so much from watching Ray Davies work a crowd every night,” Mellencamp recalls.

“We only played 35 or 40 minutes and would come out. Configuracion Modem Pirelli Wifi. It was not an enjoyable tour. Ray was, particularly at that time, not the nicest guy, especially to his opening act. He and his brother were always fighting. But when he walked on stage, he turned it on.” He’s an unapologetic isolationist: “I don’t get paid for being on stage; I get paid for leaving home, traveling on airplanes, and staying in hotels,” says Mellencamp matter-of-factly. “The part of being onstage, I’ll do that for free. My way of being on the road is probably a lot different than you would expect.