Jena - John Mellencamp Music Video

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John's statement about "Jena"

"I am not a journalist, I am a songwriter and in the spirit and tradition of the minstrel, I am telling a story in this song.

The story is not, strictly speaking, about the town of Jena or this specific incident but of racism in America.

The song was not written as an indictment of the people of Jena but, rather, as a condemnation of racism, a problem which I've reflected in many songs, a problem that still plagues our country today.

The current trial in Jena is just another reflection of prejudice in our nation. If the song strikes an emotional chord with people and if they examine it and interpret as they will, something will have been accomplished. The aim here is not to antagonize but, rather, to catalyze thought."

John Mellencamp has been in the studio working with producer T Bone Burnett on an intriguing new album. John has made a video for one of the new tracks titled "Jena." Due to the newsworthy subject matter covered in the song, John did not delay releasing the video. The song and video are inspired by today's headlines about the Jena Six.

Jena, Louisiana

Six black teenagers are accused of beating a white student.

The incident followed white students hanging nooses from a tree on school grounds.

Initially five of the "Jena Six" teens were charged with attempted 2nd degree murder, to be tried as adults by an all-white jury.

"Jena" lyrics:
An all white jury hides the executioner's face
See how we are, me and you?
Everyone here needs to know their place
Let's keep this blackbird hidden in the flue

Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Take your nooses down

So what becomes of boys that cannot think straight
Particularly those with paper bag skin
Yes sir, no sir we'll wipe that smile right off your face
We've got our rules here and you must fit in

Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Take your nooses down

Some day some way sanity will prevail
But who knows when that day might come
A shot in the dark, well it just might find its way
To the hearts of those that hold the keys to kingdom come

Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Oh oh oh Jena
Take those nooses down

Oh oh hey Jena
Oh oh Jena
Oh oh Jena
Take your nooses down

Take those nooses all down

Channel: Music
Uploaded: October 3, 2007 at 1:00 am
Author: JohnMellencampDotCom

Length: 00:03:48
Rating: 4.24
Views: 48077

Tags: John Mellencamp racism jena six murder white black discrimination segregation louisiana court noose tree cougar

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Video Comments:
cheryl4eva (October 18, 2008 at 10:12 pm)
jajajajaja c
lydzemz07 (October 16, 2008 at 9:58 am)
u can have SO much fun ... with me P
dhup45 (October 5, 2008 at 9:50 pm)
John Cougar MellenCamp. Love to you always.
DCProductions77 (October 5, 2008 at 5:29 pm)
dude did you see where the week before there was a black who got the same treatment in that same town? No 2nd degree murders down. Nice way to turn a person getting jumped into second degree murder. The DA's office would have never slept in normandy highschool in st louis were i went to school at
.
virtualdynamo (October 8, 2008 at 11:05 am)
"the week before there was a black who got the same treatment in that same town"

That's a myth. A guy got attacked in his face by a person at a private party he crashed. The man who attacked him was arrested. Nothing like what happened to Justin Barker happened in that assault according to the guy who was attacked.

The DA lowered the Jena6 attempted murder charges that he made because of prior threats and the fact that they were kicking his bloody head while he was unconscious.
Yourong18 (October 4, 2008 at 6:30 pm)
Thüringer Farbe sind Rot-Weiß! Oh ja böser Rassismus...immer wieder in Verbindung mit Jena. Scheiß Kommunisten lernt es endlich: Ihr seit der Abschaum der Nation! Stasischweine, Ratten FCC !! !! !!
Kandiikanez (September 20, 2008 at 2:24 pm)
i read about the jena six on wikipedia and i decided to listen to this song..and it really touched a deep spot in my heart..it made me wonder what our ancestors have gone through and to overcome that..god,, it jus made me appreciate n be proud of my colour..and i would not trade my black color for no1.
AndrewSmith1979 (September 15, 2008 at 5:36 pm)
100% agree with you there Virtualdynamo. It's good to see that someone on here has a bit of common sense.
virtualdynamo (September 15, 2008 at 5:26 pm)
"don't really understand what JM is trying to prove"

Sadly, I'd be willing to bet that this has to do with lining his pockets. If he really cared, he'd have done some personal research and decided that he should take up a different cause. This is just an attempt to cash in on a buzzword for racism ("Jena") tht was unfortunately based on sloppy reporting and people's biases.
virtualdynamo (September 15, 2008 at 5:24 pm)
What are you talking about? You can easily say "just because you are black doesn't mean you have to take the black kids side". Take all of the evidence available, and the black kids look guilty as sin, and add that with theior criminal records and local reputation and you find a whole lot of people supported these guys just because they are black and didn't bother to find out that they were thugs with records.