Quote Of The Day By John Mellencamp: 'I'm Looking For Trouble ...'

Whether as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar Mellencamp, or simply the name on his birth certificate, John Mellencamp, the singer-songwriter turned the music industry on its head in the '80s. Born in 1951, he truly hit the big time when his 1982 track "Jack & Diane," off the album "American Fool," topped the Billboard Hot 100, occupying pole position for four weeks. From here, he found success as an international performer, and his various other singles also lingered in the Top 10 of the same chart.

While John Mellencamp distanced himself from the Johnny Cougar moniker, his legacy lives on regardless of the name attached to the music. Notably, he secured 14 Grammy Award nominations and one win and received the honor of going into the 2008 class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

By his own admission, Mellencamp eventually soured on pop, wanting to challenge himself more as an artist and musician. Was he "looking for trouble" here? Absolutely and unabashedly so. He has a rebel heart by nature, and that's why he's today's quote of the day.

"I'm looking for trouble. I have a bunch of information in my head that I'm not afraid to put in song or onto a canvas."

John Mellencamp uttered these words to Esquire in 2014. The response came after the interviewer mentioned that he didn't appear "any less impassioned about rallying against social ills than in your past." Prior to this, Mellencamp had lambasted both the internet and government. For him, being comfortable or accepting of things he doesn't agree with just isn't an option, even though he added that "a lot of people get to be a certain age and they just kind of lose interest or they give up." Mellencamp would much rather kick the hornet's nest and let people know all about his qualms.

In other words, he's all about sticking to your guns, even if it makes you unpopular with others.

If music is manufactured, safe, and made by committee, it becomes a soulless product rather than a pure piece of art. It's clear that John Mellencamp wanted to create the latter instead of the former, so he channeled his every emotion and thought into his music. No one can question the sincerity of what he puts out, because his songs are windows into his life and everything he believes in.

John Mellencamp considers himself the luckiest guy ever, but he also bet on himself when he could have taken the safer (and likely more lucrative) path in his career after his initial success. He wanted to make meaningful music that had something to say, so he fought for his voice to be heard and continued to use it. Too many of us fear the repercussions of speaking out. Whether it's because of reprisal or what others think of us, silence becomes the default. Yet if you believe in something — really believe in it — it's always worth fighting for in the end.

• "I don't have a vendetta against anyone but if somebody says something or does something I don't think is right, I tell them."
• "Once I started writing songs, and once I found my voice, I knew what I had to do. I saw myself as an American songwriter in the troubadour fashion; it's just that I happened to have a rock band behind me."
• "It's so noisy now, I don't know how a kid can make it."
• "A lot of people my age are ready to fold up the tent and go home. It hasn't worked out that way for me."
• "I had to create my own job and create my own genre, and consequently do what I think they now call Americana."
• "I've done so many things in my career people didn't like."
• ""I feel like Jeff Bridges. Wonderful actor but he never got his due credit. There was always someone a little slicker, a little smarter. But he was always solid."
• "Do you know what luck is? Luck is thinking you're lucky. If you think you're lucky, you are."