April 10, 2020 - 210 - "Thank you, John Prine, for Giving Back a Mile"

Original background photo by Karl Fredrickson on Unsplash

Selfish Prayers

   When we heard that John Prine tested positive for Covid-19, I started to write a post about how much I was petitioning for him to be spared.  

     I'd only recently seen a photo of him and I remembered thinking he didn't look well.  Michael said he'd been through a couple of types of cancer.  So, yeah, him being sick sounded like a death sentence.

     "Please, no.  See, God,  I feel like John Prine probably wants to sing us some more songs.  Maybe that sounds selfish?  But, well, think how extra-sad it would be for all of his fans to deal with his death in this extra-challenging time.  So, ya know, TIA!  (Is it okay to use social media acronyms to a deity?  Uh...in case it's not...Sorry, and: Thanks in Advance for taking care of John Prine!"

 Sad

    So, maybe I don't have a whole lot of pull with the Universe.

    I know that John Prine wasn't young.  I know he smoked most of his life.  But, I just know, more than ever before, how much I liked that he was out there in the world somewhere.

Appreciating All The Goodness He Gave

    Michael and I have both been John Prine fans for a very long time.  I like his singing and playing, but I'm a sucker for lyrics, and his were amazing.

    I've been trying to decide my favorite of his songs to share in this blog.  The post was in the works since I heard he was sick a couple of weeks ago, but every day my notes got longer.  I kept switching to something easier to think about and this one would get pushed back another day.   

     There are just so many gems.  This would be a book if I shared all the ones I love, so I'm going to try to narrow the greats down to my absolute all-time favorites.

Favorite Songs

      Probably the first John Prine song I ever heard was "Angel From Montgomery" performed by Bonny Raitt.  The fact that a man, a young man in his early 20's, could write this song, is just one of the many proofs of his lyrical genius.

     "I am an old woman

      Named after my mother,

      My old man is another

      child that's grown old..."

     "Make me an angel that flies from Montgom'ry

      Make me a poster of an old rodeo

     Just give me one thing that I can hold on to

     To believe in this living is just a hard way to go."

---

    Tied for first place with this song is "In Spite of Ourselves".  The lyrics are funny and sweet and when I watch a performance of John singing it with Iris DeMent I may as well have died and gone to heaven.

     "In spite of ourselves

      We'll end up a'sittin' on a rainbow

     Against all odds

     Honey, we're the big door prize

     We're gonna spite our noses 

     Right off of our faces

     There won't be nothin' but big old hearts 

     Dancin' in our eyes."

Favorite Lines

     Here are some of my favorite lines.  Just a few.  He wrote a lot of socially-conscious music that is powerful and moving and beautiful,  but my favorites are the romantic and the funny ones.

(All of the following lyrics are by John Prine):

     "You come home late and you come home early

    You come on big when you're feeling small

    You come home straight and you come home curly

     Sometimes you don't come home at all

    So what in the world's come over you

    What in heaven's name have you done

     You've broken the speed of the sound of loneliness

    You're out there running just to be on the run."

-----

     "Well I once knew a man who was going insane 

     He let love chase him right up a tree

     It took the police and a fire truck

     Just to bring him back down

     Oh, I hate it when that happens to me."

---

    "Kiss a little baby
     Give the world a smile

     If you take an inch

     Give 'em back a mile

     Cause if you lie like a rug

     and you don't give a damn

     You're never gonna be 

     As happy as a clam"

    

---

     "When I was a child my family would travel

     Down to Western Kentucky where my parents were born

     And there's a backwards old town that's often remembered

     So many times that my memories are worn."  

Answered Prayers

     In a way my selfish prayers were answered.  Since he died I have had the joy of discovering an album he made about a year and a half ago.  I'm grateful now that we've been so crazy busy that we missed it.  It's a gift to find these great new-to-us songs, when we're missing his presence so much.

     Some of the lyrics give me the comfort to think that he was a lot more at peace with his mortality than I am.  Here are his thoughts on the subject:

     "When I Get To Heaven"
                -John Prine

     "When I get to heaven
     I'm gonna shake God's hand
     Thank him for more blessings
     Than one man can stand
     Then I'm gonna get a guitar
     And start a Rock and Roll band
     Check into a swell hotel
     Ain't the 'Afterlife' grand!

     And then I'm gonna get a cocktail
     Vodka and Ginger Ale
    Yeah, I'm gonna smoke a cigarette
     That's nine miles long
     I'm gonna kiss that pretty girl
    On the Tilt a Whirl
    'Cause this old man is going to town"

---

     Rest in peace, Mr. Prine.  Enjoy that drink and cigarette, and thank you for all of the inspiring, uplifting, funny, and important music that you made.

---

     And here he is in the living room of George 'Strombo' Strombopoulis performing for a small but very appreciative group, including Gordon Lightfoot.

     The whole concert is great, but the song above, and it's back-story, begin at about 38:20.  Enjoy!