John Mellencamp has just dropped the lyric video to his new single, “The Eyes Of Portland.” The track, which talks frankly about America's homeless situation, is the second teaser from Mellencamp's 25th album, titled, Orpheus Descending, which is due out on June 2nd. The album also features the track, “Hey God,” which addresses the national epidemic of gun violence.
The album marks Mellencamp's followup to the critically acclaimed 2022 collection, Strictly A One -Eyed Jack, which peaked at Number Five on the Billboard Folk Albums chart.
John Mellencamp is no stranger to feeling the backlash for writing songs that hold a mirror up to the face of modern-day America. 20 years ago, he released “To Washington,” a track that touched upon both the 2000 presidential election and eventual war in Iraq. Mellencamp said at the time: “If anybody knows anything about my records, I've said a lot more scathing things about America than I say in that song. All I did in that song was report the weather. Everything in that song was pretty much out of a newspaper — y'know, I didn't make any of that up. I didn't feel like I put any of my bias in there.”
John Mellencamp performs tonight in Columbus, Ohio at The Palace Theatre.
