John Prine

COVID-19 has been particularly hard on musicians, as another legend, John Prine, succumbed to the virus about a week ago. I had heard of John Prine, but was embarrassed not to know much of his music, but Amazon Music helpfully curated a list of thirty of his most representative songs.

Certainly Prine owned a lot to Bob Dylan. He was squarely in the world of folk music, with a little country thrown in. His voice was a nasal whine (as he got older, it was a raspy growl) and at times sounded a lot like Dylan. And both were consummate lyricists, but the difference was that Dylan could write some exasperatingly baroque lyrics, while Prine's are very straightforward, often dealing with emotionally bruised and lonely people. There is no need to interpret Prine's lyrics--they are exactly as they seem.

I could quote from almost any one of his songs, but a few did stand out for me. His most popular song may be "Angel From Montgomery," which takes the bold tact of narrating from the point of view of a woman:

"I am an old woman
Named after my mother
My old man is another
Child who's grown old
If dreams were lightning
Thunder was desire
This old house it would've burned down
A long time ago"

"Sam Stone" is about a veteran hooked on junk:

"Sam stone came home,
to the wife and family after serving in the conflict overseas.
and the time that he served, had shattered all his nerves,
and left a little shrapnel in his knees.
but the morphine eased the pain,
and the grass grew round his brain,
and gave him all the confidence he lacked,
with a purple heart and a monkey on his back"

"Paradise" is about his father's hometown in western Kentucky, destroyed by the coal mining company:

"And daddy won't you take me back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green River where Paradise lay
Well, I'm sorry my son, but you're too late in asking
Mister Peabody's coal train has hauled it away"

"Spanish Pipedream" is about an encounter with a stripper who has some words of wisdom:

"Well, I sat there at the table and I acted real naive
For I knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve
Well, she danced around the bar room and she did the hoochy-coo
Yeah she sang her song all night long, telling me what to do
 Blow up your TV throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try an find Jesus on your own"

The notion of a topless dancer having something up her sleeve is hilarious, and Prine could write some funny songs, such as "Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian," or a paean to "Dear Abby." I especially enjoyed "In Spite Of Ourselves," sung with Iris DeMent:

"She thinks all my jokes are corny
Convict movies make her horny
She likes ketchup on her scrambled eggs
Swears like a sailor when shaves her legs
She takes a lickin'
And keeps on tickin'
I'm never gonna let her go"

I could go and on. Prine was a national treasure, though certainly not as well known as Dylan. But he was prolific, releasing eighteen studio albums, the last of which, Tree Of Forgiveness, was release just two years ago. Just a few weeks before he died he received a Life Achievement Grammy.

Sometimes it takes someone dying to learn what will be missed. I'm late coming to Prine, but he was certainly worth discovering. This virus sucks.