You can watch the entire Farm Aid concert at YouTube. Everything was rolling great, until some man called her race a disgrace." Public Enemy rapper Chuck D contributes a verse to "Cuttin' Heads," saying, "Die, 'N' word, die." "Cuttin' Heads," title track of Mellencamp's 2001 album.today, better get hip to what Martin Luther King had to say." R&B singer India Arie appeared as guest vocalist on "Peaceful World." "Peaceful World," a 2001 single featuring the lines, "Racism lives in the U.S.A."Jim Crow," a 2007 duet with Joan Baez."Jena, take your nooses down," Mellencamp sang in the chorus. "Jena,” a 2007 song inspired by the Jena Six case in which six Black high school students in Louisiana were charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white student.With no Black audience members among the 12 gathered for Mellencamp’s Farm Aid performance, the singer might be criticized for being overly calculated and performative.īut he’s no newcomer to singing about race relations. IndianapoLIST: Obsessed with Indianapolis? Subscribe to our newsletter Regrettably, some observers sidestep the sentiment and shift focus to the Black Lives Matter Global Network they label as a “Marxist front organization.” When Mellencamp’s fans wear Black Lives Matters shirts and Colts players do the same during pre-game warmups, their hope is that people consider what’s being requested: a decrease in the disproportionate shooting of Black Americans by the police. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer has something in common with Indianapolis Colts coach Frank Reich, whose streak of kneeling during “The Star-Spangled Banner” extended to three weeks on Sunday. Similar to Saturday’s Farm Aid, he “took a knee” on the “Late Show” telecast and raised a Black Power fist in the tradition of athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympics. In February 2018, Mellencamp performed “Easy Target” on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Indianapolis company emerges as livestream concert leader Slippery Noodle Inn owner Hal Yeagy dies at 63 Peyton Manning, David Letterman get together at Ball State Singer-songwriter Otis Gibbs is back home again in Indiana Online viewers who complained about Farm Aid being too political should know the event's entire purpose has been political for 35 years.įamous musicians, including Dave Matthews, who became a member of the nonprofit’s board of directors when the concert came to Ruoff Music Center in 2001, work to leverage their influence to help underdog farmers survive in the era of corporate agriculture.
Ironically, though, none of the audience was Black. He made it a timely and topical gathering, playing with guitarist Andy York in woodsy Indiana for a dozen socially distanced people wearing “Black Lives Matter” shirts and pandemic face coverings. Mellencamp was the only one of 21 acts to record in front of a live human audience. Neil Young, who co-founded the benefit for independent farmers with Willie Nelson and Mellencamp in 1985, sent in footage of chickens and ducks at his feet during renditions of “Homegrown” and “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere.” Despite YouTube detractors, there’s no chance Mellencamp, who turns 69 next month, will back down from his “Crumblin’ Down” persona: “I’m the same old trouble you’ve been having for years.” BLM shirts and pandemic masksīecause the coronavirus pandemic made this year's Farm Aid an online streaming event, performers were allowed to get creative with their recorded performances.
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