I went to one of his concerts about 15 years ago, and was not too far from the stage.
No sooner did his concert start than he started railing against corporate sponsorship, saying that the signs around the pavilion were not his and that he would never sell out and go “commercial”.
I yelled at the top of my lungs: “Hey John, what color is your limousine?!” That got a pretty good chuckle from everyone around me.
Fast forward a few years, and he’s selling Chevys.
I met him a few times in Bloomington, early 80s. He seemed like a voice for small-town America back then, but quickly sold out to became just another limousine liberal sneering at the commoners. He doesn’t mention (or sing about) his roots any more, and I doubt anyone in Seymour would pee on him if he was on fire.
But like I said, we have a lot of arrogant morons in Washington nowadays, and he might be an intellectual giant in those circles. Don’t forget, Obama was above average intelligence in the Senate.