If John Mellencamp hasn't already personified that image of the small town, everyman working class rocker, he certainly did so yesterday. U.S. election day, remember?

The singer and his wife thought they'd be in and out of an Indiana polling station in 10 minutes. Instead it took them closer to 90 while waiting to cast their ballots like everyone else in the U.S. presidential election.

"I can't predict the future, but I think it's the most important election we've had since 1960," Mellencamp said on the phone in a Sun exclusive interview minutes after voting. "I just voted and there are lines. I live five minutes from the polling station and I thought I would be able just to walk right in and vote. It didn't happen like that."

The 53-year-old singer and current political activist released a two-disc greatest hits collection entitled Words & Music last month. The album features 35 tracks such as Hurts So Good, Small Town, Pink Houses and Jack & Diane as well as two new songs. Mellencamp says while it was easier to put this album together it still took a bit of work.

"There were a lot of things that entered into it," he says. "When I started making records in the '70s, that John Mellencamp voice was much higher than the John Mellencamp of today. So I wanted to make sure it was the same guy singing. And there was also the idea that a lot of young people may not be familiar with these songs and would be hearing them for the first time."

The album also features the lead single Walk Tall. The video, directed by Chris Mills, shows prejudice in terms of height and not colour.

"The video is basically about the last verse of the song, and I was thinking about tolerance," Mellencamp says. "Chris Mills came up with the idea of how ludicrous it is to look at people in terms of being black or white. To have it in terms of big people versus little people, you see that it's so ridiculous."

Mellencamp plans to tour next year, but took some of the road rust off with a series of shows as part of the Vote For Change tour last month. The A-list tour featured Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Pearl Jam and the Dixie Chicks performing different gigs in various states to encourage people to vote. Mellencamp says that he's not sure what sort of impact the tour had.

"It's hard to say right now. I know a lot of people attended the shows," he says. "At least from my point of view, if we could only make a little chip or dent into the situation then that's about all we can do."

With all the Top 40 and Top 10 songs in his career, Mellencamp attributes his success to writing a few songs that "get into people's lives." He also feels he would be on the outside looking in if he was starting off today.

"I've treated record companies like the enemy," he says. "Even though there are nice people at record companies - you can't be shooting all the dogs if only a few have fleas - record companies have eaten themselves really. They don't have the knowledge or wherewithal or talent to develop artists anymore. Young artists now only have one shot.

"I just did an article for Vanity Fair and I was researching Bob Dylan. Critics said he was a crummy songwriter and a 'hillbilly Hank Williams,' but Bob was trying to find his voice. So put that in perspective. There might be some singer-songwriter today that has the ability or talent Dylan had who will never get that opportunity to show that to the world."

Mellencamp also has other things on the burner, including a box set that is in the initial stages, as well as finishing up a musical with famed horror author Stephen King. He'll also perform next week on A&E's Live By Request.

After 25 years in music, perhaps the only jewel missing in his crown is a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's not something he's losing sleep over though.

"The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is basically East and West Coast business," he says. "Look at how long it took Bob Seger to get in. I figure I'll get in once they let everybody else in. After that happens they'll go, 'Oh yeah, we'll have to let him in too.'"