Rocker John Mellencamp is refusing to give up his home in Indiana and move in with his girlfriend Meg Ryan in New York because he insists he's "too sensitive" for the Big Apple's Mean Streets.

The Jack & Diane singer admits he wasn't made for the big city and prefers life miles away from the noise, the trash and the paparazzi.

He tells Rolling Stone magazine, "I'm too sensitive to live there (in New York). I can't see poor people. I can't see the suffering. I can't see the trash on the streets.

"I'm not leaving Indiana. I'm going to die here."

And as for the cameramen who seem to follow him and Ryan whenever they step out, he adds, "I don't give a f**k about me, but I don't like it for (her)."

Instead he loves his simple life miles away from anyone, painting in a studio above his barn.

He explains, "I get up at eight, I have breakfast, I go to the art studio, and I don't come out until dark."

One of his current works is a massive portrait of his girlfriend and her actress pal Laura Dern.