On Sunday night I ventured out to the Fox to see John Mellencamp. It was a birthday present for Abby. Mellencamp has a special place in the Weatherby musical heart. Abby and I met at Indiana University, the heart of Mellencamp land, when he was at the height of his commercial career.

I had not seen John since his Uh-Huh tour back in 1984 (and boy do I regret turning down the invite to head out to the Bluebird for a drink while in grad school where unannounced he jumped up on the stage for a few songs). He is better today than he was then, something that you don’t often say about an aging rocker. John refuses to rest on his past hits. At one point during the concert he stated “the past is nothing.” His writing is stronger than ever. One of the best examples of this is Save Some Time to Dream off his latest album, No Better Than This. The song was inspired by advice John’s father gave to him.

Listen to the music, but more important listen to the words. Nice prescription for now to live.