Peaceful World (John Mellencamp song)

Last updated
"Peaceful World"
Mellenpeaceful single.jpg
Single by John Mellencamp featuring India Arie
from the album Cuttin' Heads
ReleasedAugust 2001
Genre Rock, soul
Length4:04
Label Columbia
Songwriter(s) John Mellencamp
Producer(s) John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp featuring India Arie singles chronology
"Yours Forever"
(2000)
"Peaceful World"
(2001)
"To Washington"
(2003)

"Peaceful World" is a song written and recorded by the American rock artist John Mellencamp and India.Arie, which appeared on Mellencamp's album Cuttin' Heads . Mellencamp also included the track on his 2007 album 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of John Mellencamp. The single was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, but lost to "Dig In" by Lenny Kravitz.

Contents

The song was first played during the 2001 Indianapolis 500, during a commercial for the Indy Racing League, which Mellencamp's wife, Elaine Irwin Mellencamp, was a spokesperson for at the time. The song went on to be the official song of the League for the remainder of the 2001 Indy Racing League season. [1]

Background

"'Peaceful World' was extracted from a conversation with Pat Peterson, who's been singing backup in my touring band since 1981," Mellencamp explained to the Denver Post in an August 2001 feature. "She's my age, and I asked her, 'What's the one thing that's really disturbing to you?' There was no question about it - it's how this new rap music is really harmful to the black race.

"You have the new Uncle Tom, the guy wagging the $200,000 watch and saying, ... 'Gimme the money, man, look what I got that you ain't got ... I'll say whatever you want me to say, and when this (ends), I'll just go back to whatever I'm doing, and I don't care about the damage that I've done.' Meanwhile, white kids in suburbs who buy these records find it entertaining if not comical half the time. They have a really distorted view of what the black race is about. It's a very bad thing."

Composition

The song's lyrics, which are sung in a duet form between Mellencamp and Arie, primarily deal with issues of race and prejudice.

The lyrics led it to be somewhat of a song of comfort following the September 11, 2001 attacks, being performed during The Concert for New York City along with a live acoustic version without Arie being included in Columbia Records' October 2001 benefit album God Bless America . Mellencamp also performed the song during the 2001 United States Grand Prix, which was held 3 weeks after the attacks.

Music video

The music video of "Peaceful World", directed by Kurt Markus, shows Mellencamp and Arie in a mostly dark room, with only their faces shown. The two sing as selected lyrics from the song are flashed in front of them in light.

Charts

ChartPeak
position [2]
U.S. Billboard Top 40 Mainstream 11
U.S. Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 27
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks 38
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 104

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References

  1. "Peaceful World by John Mellencamp". Songfacts.com.
  2. Billboard.com - Artist Chart History - John Mellencamp