 Burnett, who had produced Mellencamp's previous two studio albums and the soundtrack to his musical "Ghost Brothers of Darkland County", was credited only as "executive producer" in the album's liner notes; the album lists no credit for "producer".The 10 songs on "Plain Spoken" tackle a wide variety of subject matter, with some songs taking on a personal tone, some dealing with society problems in the 21st century, and others serving as character sketches of down and out and troubled people.Of the lead track "Troubled Man," Mellencamp told SiriusXM radio