Paradise was the first song I remember hearing by John Prine, probably while on a road trip with my family when I was a kid. The song is funny and melodic. But it also describes a beautiful part of the country, his parents' hometown, being destroyed by strip mining for coal. 1/5

The strip mine fed the Paradise Fossil Plant, just down the river, built in 1963. At the time, it had the largest operating 2 units in the world (704 MW each). A third, even larger unit, came online in 1970. The song Paradise appeared on Prine's first album, in 1971. 2/5

In February of this year, the last coal unit of the Paradise Fossil Plant closed down for good. And this past quarter was the first in US history in which renewable resources generated more electricity than coal in the US. 3/5
https://www.tva.gov/Energy/Our-Power-System/Coal/Paradise-Fossil-Plant

This is just a coincidence, but it's a nice bookend to the story John Prine first gave us in 1971. This world was better with him in it. 4/5

P.S. - If you're feeling the need to sit with him for a bit, this interview he gave in 2018 is just great. 5/5 https://www.npr.org/2018/06/18/621022949/john-prine-on-music-cancer-and-why-he-never-thought-hed-be-a-recording-artist